FROM 

Faclfic  Coast  Agency 

A.  S.  BARNES  &  CO. 

New  York  and  Chicago 

329  Sansome  Sr.,     San  Tranclseo. 

With  Compliments  of 

Sdward  P.  Adams.  Manager, 


^Lt<:> 


IN   MEMORIAM 
BERNARD  MOSES 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/briefhistoryofanOOsteerich 


BARNES'S    ONE-TERM     SERIES 


Brief  H  istory 


Ancient,   Medieval, 

AND 

Modern  Peoples, 

/3.  c^. 


SOME    ACCOUNT    OF  THEIR    MONUMENTS,    INSTITUTIONS,    ARTS, 
MANNERS,    AND    CUSTOMS. 


A.        S 


BARNES     &     COMPANY, 

NEW   YORK   AND  CHICAGO. 
1883. 


BARNES'S    BRIEF    HISTORICAL    SERIES. 


BARNES'S  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  for  the  use  of  Schools.     i2mo.    Illustrated. 

BARNES'S  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  for 
the  use  of  Schools  and  for  private  reading.   i2ino.   Illustrated. 

BARNES'S  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT 
PEOPLES,  for  the  use  of  Schools  and  for  private  read- 
ing.   i2mo.     Illustrated. 

BARNES'S  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  MEDI^^VAL 
AND  MODERN  PEOPLES,  for  the  use  of  Schools 
and  for  private  reading,     izmo.     Illustrated. 

BARNES'S  BRIEF  GENERAL  HISTORY,  THE 
ANCIENT,  MEDIAEVAL,  AND  MODERN 
PEOPLES.     Bound  in  one  volume,  i2mo.    Illustrated, 

BARNES'S  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,  for 
the  use  of  Schools  and  for  private  reading.  i2mo.   Illustrated. 

In  preparation. 


BARNES'S  POPULAR  HISTORY  Of  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  for  private  reading,  and  for 
reference  in  Schools  and  P'amilies.  Royal  Bvo.  Beautifully 
illustrated.  -i:  *■     •  \»     »   ">:**  ' 

A.  S.  BARNJ&Sr(fe.C01rN^wyori/a^d  G^ 

,*#*  Circulars  and  Descriptive  Catalogue  and  any  information  con- 
cerning our  publications.,  will  be  sent  to  any  address  on  application. 


Copyright,  1883,  by  A.  S.  Barnes  bf  Co. 


THE  plan  of  the  Barnes's  Brief  History  Series  has  been 
thoroughly  tested  in  the  books  already  issued — United 
States,  and  France — and  their  extended  use  and  approval  are 
evidence  of  its  general  excellence.  In  this  work,  the  political 
history,  which  occupies  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  ordinary 
school-text,  is  condensed  to  the  salient  and  essential  facts,  in 
order  to  give  room  for  some  account  of  the  literature,  religion, 
architecture,  character,  and  habits  of  the  different  nations. 
Surely,  it  is  as  important  to  know  something  about  Plato  as  all 
about  Caesar;  to  learn  how  the  ancients  wrote  their  books 
as  how  they  fought  their  battles  ;  and  to  study  the  virtues  of 
the  old  Germans  and  the  dawn  of  our  own  customs  in  English 
home-life,  as  to  trace  the  petty  squabbles  of  Alexander's  suc- 
cessors or  the  intricacies  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses. 

The  Chapters  on  Manners  and  Customs  and  the  Scenes  in 
♦Real  Life  represent  the  people  of  history  as  men  and  women 
subject  to  the  same  wants,  hopes,  and  fears  as  ourselves,  and 
so  bring  the  distant  past  near  to  us.  The  Scenes,  which  are 
intended  only  for  reading,  are  the  result  of  a  careful  study  of 
the  unequaled  collections  of  monuments  in  the  London,  Paris, 
and  Berlin  Museums,  of  the  ruins  in  Rome  and  Pompeii,  and 
of  the  latest  authorities  on  the  domestic  life  of  the  peoples. 
of  other  lands  and  times.     Though  intentionally  written  in  a 


88731 3 


IV  PBEFACE. 

semi-romantic  style,  they  are  accurate  pictures  of  what  might 
have  occurred,  and  some  of  them  are  simple  transcriptions  of 
the  details  sculptured  in  Assyrian  alabaster,  or  painted  on 
Egyptian  walls. 

The  general  divisions  on  Civilization  and  Manners  and 
Customs  were  prepared  by  Mrs.  J.  Dorman  Steele.  Her 
enthusiasm  in  historic  research,  to  which  she  has  devoted  the 
best  years  of  her  life,  has  given  to  these  subjects  the  charm  of 
romance  and  the  accuracy  of  fact. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  extracts  here  made 
from  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East  are  not  specimens  of  their 
style  and  teachings,  but  only  gems  selected  from  a  mass  of 
matter,  much  of  which  is  absurd,  meaningless,  and  even  re- 
volting. It  has  not  seemed  best  to  cumber  a  book  like  this 
with  selections  conveying  no  moral  lesson. 

The  numerous  cross-references,  the  abundant  dates  in 
parentheses,  the  Black-board  Analyses,  the  pronunciation  of 
the  names  in  the  Index,  the  Genealogical  Tables,  the  choice 
Reading  References  at  the  close  of  each  general  subject,  and 
the  novel  Historical  Recreations  in  the  Appendix,  will  be  of 
service  to  both  teacher  and  pupil.  An  acknowledgment  of 
indebtedness  in  the  preparation  of  this  history  is  hereby  made 
to  the  works  named  in  the  Reading  References. 

It  is  hoped  that  a  large  class  of  persons  who  desire  to  know 
something  about  the  progress  of  historic  criticism,  as  well  as. 
the  recent  discoveries  made  among  the  resurrected  monuments 
of  the  East,  but  who  have  no  leisure  to  read  the  ponderous 
volumes  of  Brugsch,  Layard,  Grote,  Mommsen,  Rawlinson. 
Ihne,  Lanfrey,  Froude,  Martin,  and  others,  will  find  this  little 
book  just  what  they  need. 


liJCONTENTS 


I.    ANCIENT     PEOPLES. 

PAGE 

1.  Introduction 9 

2.  Egypt 15 

3.  Babylonia  and  Assyria 45 

4.  Phoenicia   73 

5.  JUDEA 80 

6.  Media  and  Persia 88 

7.  India. 105 

8.  China 109 

9.  Greece 113 

I  o.  Rome , 203 

II.    MEDIEVAL    PEOPLES. 

1.  Introduction 315 

2.  Rise  of  the  Saracens   326 

3.  Rise  of  the  Prankish  Kingdom. 33 1 

4.  Rise  of  Modern   Nations. 337 

1.  England 337 

2.  France 354 

3.  Germany 373 

4.  Switzerland 387 

5.  Italy  in  the  Middle  Ages 390 

6.  The  Crusades 397 

7.  The  Moors  in   Spain 404 

8.  Asia  in  the  Middle  Ages 405 

9.  Medieval  Civilization 408 


VI  CONTENTS. 


TIL    MODERN     PEOPLES. 


PAGE 


1.  Introduction 423 

2.  The  Sixteenth   Century .  430 

1.  The  French  in  Italy 430 

2.  The  Age  of  Charles  V .  433 

3.  The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic 445 

4.  Civil-Religious  Wars  of  France 450 

5.  England  under  the  Tudoks 455 

6.  The  Civilization 467 

3.  The  Seventeenth  Century. 480 

1.  The  Thirty- Years  War 480 

2.  France  in  the  Seventeenth  Century 486 

3.  England  under  the  Stuarts 494 

4.  The  Civilization 513 

4.  The  Eighteenth  Century 520 

1.  Peter  the  Great  and  Charles  XII 520 

2.  Rise  of  Prussia:  Age  of  Frederick  the  Great.  .  526 

3.  England  under  the  House  of  Hanover 532 

4.  The  French  Revolution 536 

5.  The  Civilization 553 

5.  The  Nineteenth  Century 559 

1.  France :  559 

2.  England *. 583 

3.  Germany 588 

4.  Italy 592 

5.  Turkey 596 

6.  Greece 597 

7.  The  Netherlands 598 

8.  Japan 598 

IV.    APPENDIX. 

1.  Seven  Wonders  and  Seven  Wise  Men i 

2.  Historical  Recreations ii 

3.  Index    xxv 


1.  Frontispiece.  page 

2.  The  Great  Hall  of  Karnak 9 

3.  Scenes  on  the  Nile,  etc , 14 

4.  An  Egyptian  Prophet 20 

5.  Egyptian  War  Chariot 21 

6.  Name  of  Egypt  in  Hieroglyphics , 22 

7.  Specimens  of  Picture  Writing 23 

8.  The  Papyrus  Reed 24 

9.  Queen  aiding  King  in  TEarPLB  Service 26 

10.  Son  of  Rameses  HI 27 

11.  Egyptian  Easy  Chair , 28 

12.  Egyptian  Couch,  Pillow,  and  Steps , 29 

13.  Egyptian  Musicians 29 

14.  Bronze  Figure  of  the  God  Apis. 31 

15.  A  Mummy  in  Bands. . . o 33 

16.  Egyptian   Sarcophagus 33 

17.  Woman  Embracing  the  Mummy  of  her  Husband 34 

18.  The  Funeral  of  a  Mummy 35 

19.  A  Modern  Shadoof 36 

20.  Egyptian  Obelisk 40 

21.  Assyrian  Heads  (from  Nimroud) 47 

23.  Babylonian  Woman  and  Men 50 

23.  Cuneiform  Writing  prom  a  Cylinder ^ 52 

24.  Assyrian  Clay  Tablet. 53 

25.  A  Terra-cotta  Cylinder 54 

26.  Babylonian  Brick 56 

27.  Black  Obelisk  from  Nimroud 57 

28.  Assyrian  Emblems 61 

29.  Assyrian  Lamps 63 

30.  The  Signet  Cylinder  OF  King  Uruch 64 

31.  A  Cylinder  Seal 65 

32.  An  Assyrian  Palace  (restored) , , 66 

33.  Colossal  Wenged-Bull 67 

34.  A  Royal  Lion  Hunt ., 68 

35.  Assyrian  King  and  Attendants. ,. 70 

36.  Court-yard  of  Oriental  House . .  71 

37.  The  Site  of  Ancient  Babylon 73 

38.  The  Ruins  of  Ancient  Tyre 75 

39.  The  City  op  Sidon 78 


vm  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

40.  A  Phoenician  Galley 79 

41.  The  Tombs  of  the  Judges ,.., , 8;^ 

42.  Sandal  and  Ancient  Book , 85 

43.  Hebbew  Priest  Offeking  Incense 86 

44.  Jewish  Shekel , ...  ...    86 

45.  Ancient  Key 87 

46.  Jerusalem,  in  Time  of  Christ 87 

47.  Bas-relief  of  Cyrus  the  Great 89 

48.  Crcesus  on  the  Funeral  Pyre 90 

49.  Persian  Subjects  bre^ging  Tribute  to  the  King 95 

50.  Tomb  of  Cyrus  the  Great 96 

51.  Great  Staircase  at  Pebsepolis 96 

52.  Symbol  of  Ormazd 98 

53.  A  Persian  m  Ordinary  Costume , 100 

54.  Ancient  Persian  Silver  Com , 100 

55.  Persian  Foot-soldieks 103 

56.  The  Rums  of  Persbpolis 104 

57.  Buddhist  Priests 107 

58.  A  BRAHMm  AT  Prayer 108 

59.  The  Great  Wall  op  China 110 

60.  Traditional  Likeness  of  Confucius.. , Ill 

61.  A  Chinese  Temple 112 

62.  Departure  of  Achilles ,.  „ 116 

63.  Prow  of  an  Early  Greek  Ship. , 116 

64.  A  Com  OF  Athens 121 

65.  The  Tablets  of  Solon 122 

66.  View  of  the  Plains  of  Marathon 127 

67.  Portrait  of  Meltiades 127 

68.  Leonidas  at  the  Pass  of  Thermopyl^ 131 

69.  Portrait  of  Leonidas 131 

70  A  Scene  m  Athens  in  the  Time  of  Pericles — 138 

71.  Portrait  of  Philip  of  Macedon. 149 

72.  A  Tetradrachm  of  Alexander  the  Great 150 

73.  Greek  Galley  with  Three  Banks  of  Oars 158 

74.  Grecian  Peasant , .  160 

75.  Portrait  of  Homer 162 

76.  .ffiscHYLUs,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides 166 

77.  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  Xenophon 171 

78.  Portrait  of  Demosthenes 173 

79.  A  Greek  WRiTmG  Tablet 178 

80.  A  Grecian  Youth 179 

81.  The  Parthenon,  East  End 180 

82.  The  Orders  of  Grecian  Architecture 182 

83.  Presenting  Offerings  at  the  Temple  of  Delphi 185 

84.  GRECLA.N  Female  Heads . .   —  189 

85.  Grecian  Warriors  and  Attendant 191 

86.  Grecian  Ladies  and  Attendant. 195 

87.  An  Ancient  Brazier 196 

88.  A  Greek  Symposium —  • 198 

89.  Bas-relief  of  the  NmE  Muses 202 

90.  The  Roman  Wolf  Statue 205 

91.  The  Tarpeian  Rock 206 

92.  The  Temple  of  Janus 207 

93.  Roman  Fasces ..  208 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  IX 


PAGE 

94.  Roman  Plebeians  op  the  Eablt  Period  215 

95.  Cincinnatus  Receiting  the  Dictatorship 220 

96.  Hannibal  Crossing  the  Alps , 231 

97.  Portrait  of  Hannibal , 231 

98.  Group  of  Roman  Soldiers 240 

99.  Portrait  op  Caius  Julius  C^sar , 248 

100.  The  Roman  Imperial  Emblem — 251 

101.  Com  OF  Tiberius  C^sar 258 

102.  Coin  op  Nero 260 

103.  Attila,  the  Hun ,,.  268 

104.  Roman  Consul  and  Lictors , 270 

105.  The  Siege  op  a  City ,272 

106.  Portraits  op  Cicero,  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Sallust — 276 

107.  Interior  op  a  Roman  Library 279 

108.  The  Roman  Toga 281 

109.  Bridge  op  St.  Angelo  and  Hadrian's  Tomb 283 

110.  Ruins  op  the  Colosseum 285 

111.  A  Roman  Augur 288 

112.  A  Gladiatorial  Combat 291 

113.  Dressing  a  Roman  Bride ,  293 

114.  Rome  in  the  Time  op  Augustus  Csisar * 297 

115.  A  Roman  Lamp 302 

116.  Interior  of  the  House  op  Pansa 304 

117.  F*lan  of  the  House  op  Pansa —  806 

118.  Roman  Tombs  along  the  Appian  Way 312 

119.  View  in  Constantinople 313 

120.  In  Sight  of  Rome 315 

121.  The  Papal  Insignia 321 

122.  Elevating  on  the  Shield 324 

123.  Group  of  Ancient  Arms 326 

124.  Charles  Maktel  at  the  Battle  of  Tours 329 

125.  Charlemagne  Crowned 334 

126.  Portrait  op  Charlemagne  335 

127.  Portrait  op  William  the  Conqueror 341 

128.  The  Scriptorium  op  a  Monastery.    (A  Monk  Illuminating  a  MS.) 349 

129.  House  of  a  Nobleman  (Twelfth  Century) 350 

130.  Eari.y  English  Bench   or  Bed 350 

131.  A  Dinner  Party 351 

1.32.  Primitive  Method  op  Cooking  (Fourteenth  Century)  352 

133.  Preparing  a  Candidate  por  Knighthood 353 

134.  Norman  Ship  (from  the  Bayeux  Tapestry) 354 

1.35.  Portrait  op  Philip  Augustus 358 

136.  Soldier  op  the  Fourteenth  Century 359 

137.  A  Knight  Templar 360 

138.  King  John  and  his  Son  at  Poitiers 362 

1-39.  English  Long-bow  Men 363 

140.  Prince  Edward's  Tomb  at  Canterbury 365 

141.  Portrait  op  Jeanne  Darc 368 

142.  Early  Inhabitants  of  France 371 

143.  Paris  in  the  Middle  Ages 372 

144.  Robber  Knights  in  Ambush 382 

145.  Scenes  in  Venice 393 

146.  The  Arch  op  Titus 398 

147.  Crusaders  on  the  March 397 


ILLUSTRATIOi^S 


PAGE 

148.  The  Tomb  of  Godfrey  db  Bouillon \ 398 

149.  Badge  of  the  Templars 399 

150.  St.  Louis  landing  in  Egypt 402 

151.  Mohammedan  Emblems 407 

152.  Serfs  of  the  Twelfth  Century.     (From  MS.  of  the  time.) 408 

153.  Medieval  Castle 410 

154.  Costumes  op  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Centuries 411 

155.  The  Stylus,  two  forms  (Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Centuries)  . . .  414 

156.  Fac-simile  of  French  Writing  of  the  Fifteenth  Century 415 

157.  Male  Costume  (Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Centuries) 416 

158.  Female      "                  "                           "                "            416 

159.  A  Movable  Iron  Cage  (Fifteenth  Century) 416 

160.  Gold  Florin  (Louis  IX.) 420 

161.  Globe  illustrating  the  Geographical  Knowledge  of  the  Fifteenth 

Century : 423 

162.  The  Invention  of  Printing 425 

163.  A  Ship  of  the  Fifteenth  Century 427 

164.  Tomb  of  Columbus  at  Havana 439 

165.  Portrait  of  Francis  I.    (After  Titian.) 432 

166.  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold 434 

167.  Luther  before  the  Diet  of  Worms 440 

168.  Sacking  a  Cathedral 445 

169.  Portrait  of  Catharine  de'  Medici 450 

170.  "  Admiral  Coligny 451 

171.  '•  Henry  of  Guise 452 

172.  '•  Sully 454 

173.  "  Henry  VIII.,  and  Cardinal  Wolsey 457 

174.  The  Chained  Bible  (Sixteenth  Century) 459 

175.  Portraits  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 462 

176.  Portrait  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain ? 464 

177.  Tomb  of  Queen  Elizabeth 466 

178.  The  Glory  of  the  Elizabethan  Age 468 

179.  A  Group  of  Courtiers  in  the  Time  of  Elizabeth '. 470 

180.  Shakspere's  Globe  Theatre 472 

181.  The  Rack  (A  Mode  of  Punishment  in  the  Sixteenth  Century) 473 

182.  London  Watchmen  (Sixteenth  Century) 474 

183.  Bringing  in  the  Yule  Log  at  Christmas 479 

184.  Before  the  Battle  of  Lutzen 484 

185.  Portrait  of  Louis  XITI 486 

186.  "  Cardinal  Richelieu 487 

187.  "  Cardinal  Mazarin 488 

188.  "  Colbert 489 

189.  "  TURENNE 491 

190.  Guy  Fawkes  and  his  Companions 496 

191.  Charles  I.  and  his  Armor-bearer 498 

192.  Cromwell  Dissolving  the  Long  Parliament 500 

193   Execution  of  Charles  I 502 

194.  Medal  of  Oliver  Cromwell 505 

195.  Titus  Gates  in  the  Pillory 509 

196.  Portraits  of  Dryden.  Milton,  and  Bunyan 514 

197.  Signature  of  Louis  XIV 515 

198.  Court  of  Louis  XIV. 516 

199.  The  Palace  of  the  Luxemburg 519 

200.  Portrait  of  Ivan  the  Terrible 521 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  XI 


PAGE 

201.  Peter  the  Great  studying  Ship  BUiLDrNG 522 

202.  Frederick  the  Great  reviewing  nis  Grenadiers  at  Potsdam 528 

A  Portrait  of  Makia  Thi-I-ks-a .  •  528 

203.  Portrait  of  Georgk  TIT 535 

204.  Fac-simile  of  Law's  Paper  Money — 536 

205.  Portraits  of  Louis  XVL,  Marie  Antoinette,  and  the  Dauphin 537 

206.  Portrait  of  Turgot 537 

207.  "  Neckek 538 

208.  French  Fagot-vender  (Eighteenth  Century) 539 

209.  Female  Head-dkess  (Eighteenth  Century). 539 

210.  The  Bastile 540 

211.  Scene  in  Paris  after  the  Storming  of  the  Bastile 541 

212.  Girondists  on  the  Way  to  Execution 544 

213.  Portrait  of  Robespierre 545 

214.  Costumes  of  the  Three  Orders 546 

215.  Fac-simile  of  the  Signature  of  Napoleon  Buonaparte 546 

216.  Portrait  of  Napoleon  Buonaparte 547 

217.  Buonaparte  at  the  Bridge  of  Arcole 549 

218.  The  Pyramids  of  Egypt 551 

219.  Buonaparte  before  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred 552 

220.  Portraits  of  Alexander  Pope,  Steele,  Addison,  Sfift,  and  De  Fob.  .  554 

221.  Temple  of  Glory  (The  Madeleine) 501 

222.  Portrait  of  the  Empress  Josephine 562 

223.  Napoleon  and  Josephine  at  St.  Cloud 564 

224.  The  Battle  of  Wagram 567 

225.  Cossacks  harassing  the  Retreating  Army 569 

226.  Napoleon  parting  with  the  Old  Guard  at  Fontainebleau 571 

227.  Tomb  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena 574 

228.  Column  of  July 575 

229.  Lancers  Clearing  the  Boulevards  at  Paris 576 

230.  Proclamation  of  the  Republic 577 

231.  Street  Placards  announcing  the  Coup  d'etat 579 

232.  Execution  of  a  Female  Communist  in  Paris 581 

233.  Barricading  the  Streets  of  Paris 582 

234.  The  Royal  Palace  at  Berlin 589 

235.  Portrait  of  Count  Bismarck 590 

236.  "  William,  King  of  Prussia 59l 

237.  "  Garibaldi 593 

238.  "  Victor  Emmanuel 594 

239.  The  French  Armt  occupying  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo 595 

240.  The  Four  Classe-j  of  Japanese   Society— Military,  Agricultural, 

Laboring,  and  Mercantile 600 


Xll  MAPS. 


LIST    OF    MAPS 


Map  OF  Early  Races  AND  Nations jl 

Map  of  Ancient  Egypt -.^ 

Map  of  the  Assyrian  and  Persian  Empires 45 

Map  of  Phcenicia  and  Judea  in  Solomon's  Time  74 

Map  of  Canaan  and  the  Wilderness gj 

Map  OF  Greece  AND  HER  Colonies jl3 

Map  of  Hellas  in  the  Heroic  Age Ug 

Map  of  Greece  in  the  Time  of  the  Persian  Wars 125 

Map  of  the  Plain  op  Marathon 126 

Map  of  the  Vicinity  of  Thermopyl^ 130 

Map  of  the  Vicinity  of  Athens  and  Salamis 135 

Map  illustrating  the  Peloponnesian  War 142 

Map  of  the  Empire  of  Alexander 153 

Map  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  its  Provinces 203 

Map  of  the  Eary  Tribes  and  Cities  of  the  Italian  Peninsula.  210 

Map  illustrating  the  Punic  Wars 228 

Map  of  the  Divisions  of  Italia  to  the  Time  of  Augustus 255 

Map  OB  Plan  of  Ancient  Rome 299 

Map  of  the  Nations  of  Western  Europe  (Fifth  Century) 317 

Map  of  the  Empire  of  the  Caliphs  (Eighth  Century) 327 

Map  of  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne " 333 

Map  of  the  Four  Conquests  of  England 338 

Map  of  Prance  in  the  Time  of  Hugh  Capet 357 

Map  of  Burgundy  under  Charles  the  Bold 370 

Map  of  the  German  Empire  under  the  Hohenstaufens,  including  Naples 

AND  Sicily 378 

Map  of  Syria  in  the  Time  of  the  Crusades 401 

Map  of  the  Iberian  Peninsula  in  the  Fifteenth   Century 404 

Map  illustrating  the  Great  Voyages  of  Discovery 426 

Map  of  Italy  from  the  Fifteenth  Century 431 

Map  of  the  Wars   in   France,  the   Netherlands,   and   Civil  War   in 

England 447 

Map  of  Central  Europe.    (The  Thirty-Years  and  Seven- Years  Wars.)..  481 

Map  of  Eastern  Europe  (Seventeenth  Century)..  495 

Map  of  Modern  Nations  of  Europe,  Western  Asia,  and  Africa.  .   532 

Map  of  Napoleon's  Wars 560 


Ancient  Peoples 


BLACKBOARD     ANALYSIS 


1.  Egyp- 
tians. 


Political 

HiSTOBY. 


Civiliza- 
tion. 


8.  Manners 
AND  Customs. 


Origin. 
Old  Empire. 
Middle  Empire. 
New  Empire. 
Decline. 


1.  Society. 


2.  Writing. 


King. 
Priests. 

Military  Class. 

Lower  Classes. 

Hieroglyphics. 

Papyrus. 

I  Book  of  the  Dead. 

3.  Literature.  <  Phtahhotep's  Book. 

(  Miscellaneous  Books. 

4.  Education. 

5.  Monuments  and  Art. 

6.  Practical  Arts  and  Inventions. 

1.  General  Character. 

2.  Religion. 

3.  Embalming. 


4.  Burial. 


Scenes      in 
Real  Life. 


4.  Summary. 

5.  Chbonoloqy. 

6.  Reading  References. 
1.  Orisrin 


1.  Pyramid  Building. 

2.  A  Lord  of  the  IVth  Dynasty. 

3.  Amenemhe  Jlld. 

4.  A  Theban  Dinner  Party. 


2.  Babylo- 
nians and 
Assyrians. 


Political 
History. 


2.  dVILIZA- 

TION. 


3.  Manners 
AND  Customs 


1.  Political  History, 

2.  Civilization. 
1.  Political  History. 
2   Civilization. 

Political  History. 
Civilization. 
Manners  and  Customs. 
Political  History. 
2  Civilization. 

1.  Political  History. 

2.  Civilization. 


Chaldea. 
Assyria. 

Names  of  Kings. 
Babylonia. 
Names  of  Kings. 
Society. 

2.  Writing, 

3.  Literature. 

4.  Monuments  and  Art. 

5   Practical  Arts  and  Inventions. 

1.  General  Character. 

2.  Religion. 
Curious  Customs. 

1.  A  Chaldean  Home. 
2  A  Morning  in  Nineveh. 

3.  A  Royal  Lion  Hunt. 

4.  Asshurbanipal  going  to  War. 


3.  Curious  Custoi 

14,  Scenes      m  J 
Real  Life.    1 


[The  subdivisions  of  these 
general  topics  may  be  filled  in 
from  the  titles  of  the  paragraphs 
in  the  text,  as  the  student  pro- 
ceeds.] 


Political 
History. 


S.Grecians,  - 


19.  Re 


Geographical  and  Early  History 

Sparta. 

Athens. 

Persian  Wars. 

Age  of  Pericles. 

Peloponnesian  War. 

Laced  semon  and  Theban  Rule, 

Macedon. 

Alexander's  Successors. 


2.  Civilization. 

3.  Manners  and  Customs. 

1.  Political  History. 

2.  Civilization. 

3.  Manners  and  Customs. 


GREAT  HALL   OF    KARNAK. 


the  central  point  in  history. 


History  is  a  record  of 
what  man  has  done.  It 
treats  of  the  rise  and 
growth  of  the  different 
nations  which  have  ex- 
isted, of  the  deeds  of  their 
great  men,  the  manners 
and  customs  of  their  peo- 
ples, and  the  part  each 
nation  has  taken  in  the 
progress  of  the  world. 

Dates  are  reckoned 
from  the  birth  of  Christ, 
Time  before  that  event  is 


10  ANCIENT     HI  STO  BY.       • 

denoted  as  B.C.;  time  after^- A.  :B:/(i4/«^  Domini,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lorc^).**^ ; ,  '  ;'  \     « *; .:  ^    ^  ^ 

Three  Divisions.— History  is  distinguished  as  Ancient, 
Mediaeval,  and  Modern.  Ancient  history  extends  from  the 
earliest  time  to  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  (476  A.  D.) ; 
Mediaeval,  or  the  history  of  the  Middle  ages,  covers  about 
a  thousand  years,  or  to  the  close  of  the  15th  century,  and 
Modern  history  continues  to  the  present  time. 

The  only  Historic  Race  is  the  Caucasian,  the  others 
having  done  little  worth  recording.  It  is  usually  divided 
into  three  great  branches:  the  Ar'yan,  the  Semit'ic,  and 
the  Hamit'ic.  The  first  of  these,  Avhich  includes  the  Per- 
sians, the  Hindoos,  and  nearly  all  the  European  nations,  is 
the  one  to  which  Ave  belong.  It  has  always  been  noted  for  its 
intellectual  vigor.  The  second  embraces  the  Assyrians,  the 
Hebrews,  the  Phoenicians,  and  the  Arabs.  It  has  been 
marked  by  religious  fervor,  and  has  given  to  the  world  the 
three  faiths — Jewish,  Christian,  and  Mohammedan — which 
teach  the  worship  of  one  God.  The  third  branch  f  includes 
the  Chaldeans  and  the  Egyptians.  It  has  been  remarkable 
for  its  massive  architecture. 

Ancient  Aryan  Nation. — Asia  was  doubtless  the  birth- 
place of  mankind.  In  a  time  far  back  of  all  history,  there 
lived  in  Bactria  (map,  p.  11)  a  nation  that  had  made  con- 
siderable progress  in  civilization.     The  people  called  them- 

*  This  method  of  reckoning  waB  introduced  by  Exiguus,  a  Roman  abbot,  near  the 
middle  of  the  6th  century.  It  is  now  thought  that  the  birth  of  Christ  occurred  about 
four  years  earlier  than  the  time  fixed  in  our  chronology.  The  Jews  still  date  from  the 
Creation,  and  the  Mohammedans  usually  from  the  Hegira  or  Flight  of  Mohammed 
from  Mecca  (622  a.  d.). 

t  Those  nations  of  Europe  and  Asia  that  are  not  Aryan  or  Semitic  are  frequently 
term^di ■Tttranian.  This  branch  would  then  include  the  Mongols,  Chinese,  Japanese, 
Turks,  Tartars,  Lapps,  Finns,  Magyars,  etc.  Iran  (e'-rahn)  or  Aria,  the  old  name  of 
Persia,  the  "land  of  light,"  is  opposed  to  Turan,  the  barbarous  region  around,  the 
"land  of  darkness."  The  classification  of  the  Aryan  (Indo-European)  ;ind  Semitic 
families  of  nations  is  based  on  resemblances  in  the  languages  spoken  by  them  ;  but 
the  so-called  Turanian  dialects  bear  little  resemblance  to  one  another. 


12  *  A.^C1ENT     HISTORY. 

selves  Aryas  or  Aryans— those  who  go  straight  or  upward. 
They  dwelt  in  houses,  ploughed  the  soil,  ground  their  grain 
in  mills,  rode  in  vehicles,  worked  certain  metals,  calcu- 
lated up  to  100,  and  had  family  ties,  a  government,  and  a 
religion.* 

Aryan  Dispersion.— How  long  our  Aryan  forefathers 
lived  united  in  their  early  home,  we  have  no  means  of  know- 
ing. As  they  increased  in  numbers  they  would  naturally 
begin  to  separate.  When  they  moved  into  distant  regions, 
the  bond  of  union  would  become  weaker,  their  language 
would  begin  to  vary,  and  so  the  seeds  of  new  tongues  and 
new  nations  would  be  sown.  To  the  southeast  these  Aryan 
emigrants  pushed  into  Persia  and  northern  India ;  to  the  west 
they  gradually  passed  into  Europe,  whence,  in  a  later  age, 
they  settled  Australia  and  America.  In  general,  they  drove 
before  them  the  previous  occupants  of  the  land.  The 
peninsulas  of  Greece  and  Italy  were  probably  earliest  occu- 
pied. Three  successive  waves  of  emigration  seem  to  have 
afterward  swept  over  Central  Europe.  First  came  the  Celts 
(Kelts),  then  the  Teutons  (Germans),  and  finally  the  Slaves,  f 
Each  of  these  appears  to  have  crowded  the  preceding  one 
farther  west,  as  we  now  find  the  Celts  in  Ireland  and  Wales, 
and  the  Slaves  in  Kussia  and  Poland. 


*  These  views  are;:based.on  similarities  of  lan^iage.  Among  the  Aryan  nations, 
for  example,  we'^nd  many  words  which  have  a  family  lilseness.  Thus,  night  in 
Latin  is  nocty  in  Ge/man  nacht,  and  in  Greelv  nykt;  three  in  Latin  is  tres^  in  Greek 
treis,  and  in  Sanscrit  (th^  Ant^ient  language  of  the  Hindoos)  tri.  All  words  common 
to  the  Aryan  languages  Kr3.gapposed  to  have  belonged  to  the  original  speech  of  one 
parent  race  ;  and  ^^s^  io  fet^rt  with,  men  made  no  words  until  they  had  ideas  which 
demanded  expression,  these-  common  words  show  the  manner  of  life  among  that 
primitive  people.  Thus,  we  infer  that  the  "  daughter  "  of  the  household  milked  the 
cows,  as  that  is  the  origiiiaa  ^neaning  of  the  word  "milkmaid  ;"  that  the  Aryans  had 
a  regular  governnveni:,  siact  *vords  meaning  king  or  ruler  are  the  same  in  Sausscrit, 
Latin  and  English -^^ and  thAt.they  had  a  family  life,  since  the  words  meaning/a^Acr, 
mother^  brother,  slsier,  etc^,  £,re  the  same  in  these  kindred  tongues. 

t  This  word  originally hioant  "glorious,"  but  came  to  have  its  present  significa- 
tion, because,  at  one  time,  there  were  in  Europe  so  many  bondsmen  of  Slavonic 
birth. 


INTRODUCTION 


13 


The  following  table  shows  the  principal  nations  which  have  de- 
scended from  the  ancient  races  : 


'  Pbbsians. 

Hindoos. 

.;  Gbeeks. 

*:  Romans  .    .    - 

■  French.           •» 

Italians. 

Romanic  (romance) 

Spaniards . 

Nations. 

.  Portuguese,    . 

r  Welsh. 

1.  ARYAN  RACE. 

Celts 

Irish. 

Highland  Scots. 
Britons. 

Germans. 
Dutch. 

Teutons  .    ,    .    - 

English. 
Swedes. 
Danes. 
.  Norwegians.* 

'  Russians. 

Slaves     .    .    . 

Poles. 
Bohemians. 

r  Assyrians. 

2.  SEMITIC  RACE. 

Hkbbews. 
[  Phoenicians. 

3.  HAMITIC  RACE. 

f  Chaldeans. 
1  Egyptians. 

Commencement  of  Civil  History.— History  begins  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile,  the  Tigris,  and  the  Euphrates.*  There 
the  rich  alluvial  soil,  the  geniial  climate,  and  the  abundant 
natural  products  of  the  earth    offered   every    inducement 


*  "  The  Nile  valley  and  the  Tigris-Enphrates  hasin  were  two  great  oases  in  the 
vast  desert  which  extended  from  west  to  east  very  nearly  across  the  eastern  hemi- 
sphere. These  favored  spots  were  not  only  the  two  centers  of  early  civilization,  but 
they  were  rivals  of  each  other.  They  were  connected  by  roads  fit  for  the  passage  of 
vast  armies.  Whenever  there  was  an  energetic  ruler  along  the  Nile  or  the  Tigiis- 
Euphrates,  he  at  once,  as  if  by  an  inevitable  law,  attempted  the  conquest  of  his  com- 
petitor for  the  control  of  Western  Asia.  In  fact,  the  history  of  ancient  as  well  as 
modem  Asia  is  little  more  than  one  continuous  record  of  political  struggles  between 
Egypt  and  Mesopotamia,  ending  only  when  Europe  entered  the  lists,  as  w  th^  tim^ 
of  Alexander  tije  Great  and  the  Crusaders." 


14 


ANCIENT     HISTORY 


to  a  nomadic  people  to  settle  and  commence  a  national 
life.  Accordingly,  amid  the  obscurity  of  antiquity,  we  catch 
sight  of  Memphis,  Thebes,  Nineveh,  and  Babylon — the  ear- 
liest cities  of  the  world.  The  traveler  of  to-day,  wandering 
among  their  ruins,  looks  upon  the  records  of  the  infancy 
of  man. 


EGYPT. 


1.    THE    POLITICAL    HISTORY. 

The  Origin  of  the  civilization  which  grew  up  on  the 
banks  of  the  Nile  is  uncertain.  The  earliest  accounts  repre- 
sent the  country  as  divided  into  nomes,  or  provinces,  and 
having  a  regular  government.  About  2700  B.  c.  Menes 
(me-neez),  the  half-mythical  founder  of  the  nation,  is  said 
to  have  conquered  Lower  Egypt  and  built  Memphis,  which 
he  made  his  capital.  Succeeding  him,  down  to  the  conquest 
of  Egypt  by  the  Persians  under  Cambyses  (527  B.C.),  there 
were  twenty-six  dynasties  of  Pharaohs,  or  kings.  The  his- 
tory of  this  long  period  of  over  2000  years  is  divided  into 
that  of  the  Old,  Middle  and  New  Empires. 

1.  The  Old  Empire  (2700-2080  b.  c.).*— During  this 

Geoffrapkicat  QuesHons.—ljQCVii&  the  capitals  of  the  five  early  kingdoms  of 
Egypt:  This,  Elephantine,  Memphis,  Heracleopolis,  and  Thebes.  Where  are  the 
Pyramids  of  Gizeh  ?  Where  were  Lower,  Middle  and  Upper  Egypt  ?  Where  is  the 
first  cataract  of  the  Nile  ?  Describe  the  geographical  appearance  of  Egypt.  Ans.  A 
flat  valley,  2  to  10  miles  wide,  skirted  by  low,  rocky  hills  ;  on  the  west,  the  desert ; 
on  the  east,  a  mountainous  region  rich  in  quarries,  extending  to  the  Red  Sea. 
Through  this  narrow  valley,  for  600  miles,  the  Nile  river  rolls  its  muddy  waters 
northward.  About  100  miles  from  the  Mediterranean  the  hills  recede,  the  valley 
widens,  and  the  Nile  di-vides  into  two  outlets— the  Damietta  and  Rosetta.  These 
branches  diverge  until  they  enter  the  sea,  80  miles  apart.  Anciently  there  were 
seven  branches,  and  the  triangular  space  they  enclosed  was  called  the  Delta,  from  the 
Greek  letter  A.  The  Nile  receiving  no  tributary  for  about  1350  miles  of  its  course, 
becomes,  unlike  other  rivers,  smaller  toward  its  mouth. 

*  Previous  to  the  discoveries  of  the  last  century,  the  chief  sources  of  information 
on  Egypt  were  (1)  Herod'otus,  a  Greek  historian  who  traveled  along  the  Nile  about 
450  B.C.,  and  based  his  accounts  upon  information  obtained  from  the  priests; 
(2)  Diodo'rus  Sic'ulus,  anotlier  Greek  historian,  who  visited  Egypt  in  the  1st  century 
B.  c,  but  whose  statements  are  substantially  those  of  Herodotus ;  and  (3)  Man'etho, 


16 


EGYPT, 


epoch  the  principal 
interest  clusters 
about  the  IVth  or 
Pyramid  dynasty, 
so-called  because  its 
chief  monarchs  built 
the  three  great  pyra- 
mids at  Gizeh  (ghe- 
zeh).  The  best 
known  of  these  kings 
was  Khufn,  termed 
Clieops  (ke-ops)  by 
Herodotus.  In  time, 
Egypt  broke  up  into 
separate  kingdoms, 
Memphis  gradually 
lost  its  pre-eminence, 
and  Thebes  became 
the  favorite  capital. 
2.  The  Middle 
Empire  (2080-1525 
B.  c).  With  the  rise 
of  Thebes  to  the 
sovereign  power,  be- 
gan a  new  epoch  in 

an  Egyptian  priest  (3d  century  b.  c),  who  wrote  in  Greelc  a  history  of  which  only 
fragments  now  remain.  Manetho  professed  to  compile  his  accounts  from  archives 
preserved  in  the  Egyptian  temples,  and  has  been  the  main  authority  on  chronology. 
He  gives,  however,  a  worthless  list  of  gods,  heroes,  and  kings  whom  he  declares  to 
have  reigned  for  nearly  25,000  years  before  the  accession  of  Menes.  How  many  of 
the  dynasties  which  follow  Menes  were  contemporaneous  is  still  a  subject  of  dispute 
among  Egyptologers,  and  there  is  thus  a  difference  of  over  2,300  years  in  the  extreme 
dates  given  for  the  time  of  Menes.  The  Egyptians  themselves  had  no  continuous 
chronology,  but  reckoned  dates  from  the  ascension  of  each  king,  so  that  the  monu- 
ments furnish  little  help.  Of  the  five  recovered  lists  of  kings,  only  one  attempts  to 
give  the  length  of  their  respective  reigns,  and  this  inscription  is  in  164  fragments, 
most  of  the  figures  being  illegible.  All  Egyptian  data  prior  to  the  XXVIth  dynasty 
are  uncertain.    In  this  book,  what  is  called  the  Short  Chronology  has  been  followed 


ANCIENT 

EGYPT  ,,^         ,     ^    . 

Scale  of  Eng.Miles  '"'^^'vT/neK^***         ,0.'^' 

' ^5 U  -.- ^:^Mr^^?^.... 

J.WELL8  DEL.  ^       T       H        I     [O       P       I        A 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  17 

Egyptian  history.  The  XII th  dynasty,  reigning  in  the 
"  100-gated  city/'  was  the  first  to  claim  all  the  district 
watered  by  the  Nile,  and  under  those  great  kings,  the  Sesor- 
tasens  2a\di  Amenemhes,  Ethiopia  was  conquered.  To  this 
dynasty  belong'  the  famous  Lake  Moeris  and  the  Labyrinth 
(p.  39).  The  country  being  parceled  into  five  kingdoms, 
its  divided  state  invited  attack,  and  the  Shepherd  (Hyksos) 
Kings,  a  rude  and  barbarous  race  that  had  already  conquered 
Lower  Egypt,  finally  overran  the  Avhole  region  (1900  B.  c). 
For  about  400  years  a  darkness  as  of  night  rested  on  the 
land.  At  last  the  people  rose  under  a  Theban  ruler  and 
drove  out  their  oppressors. 

3.  The  New  Empire  (1525-527  B.C.).— The  native 
kings  having  been  restored  to  the  throne,  Egypt  became  a 
united  people  with  Thebes  for  the  capital.  Then  followed 
a  true  national  life  of  1000  years.  The  XVIIIth  and 
XlXth  dynasties  exalted  Egypt  to  the  height  of  its  glory. 
Thotmes  I.  (tot'-meez)  began  a  system  of  great  Asiatic  expe- 
ditions. TJiotmes  III.,  who  has  been  styled  "the  Egyptian 
Alexander  the  Great,"  erected  the  magnificent  temple-palace 
at  Thebes.  From  his  inscriptions,  he  is  believed  to  have 
taken  tribute  from  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  while  his  fleet, 
manned  by  Phoenician  sailors,  gave  him  the  supremacy  of 
the  Mediterranean.  Amunoph  III.  was  a  famous  warrior 
and  builder.  Among  his  structures  there  remains  the  Vocal 
Memnon,  which  was  said  to  sing  when  struck  by  the  rays  of 
the  rising  sun.  Seti  (Mineptah)  completely  subdued  Meso- 
potamia, Assyria  and  Chaldea,  and  built  the  Great  Hall  of 
Karnakc*     At  an  early  age  his  son  Eameses  II.  was  made 

*  The  Great  Temple  of  Karnak  (>?ee  Illustration,  p.  9)  was  1200  feet  long  by  360 
feet  wide,  and  had  five  or  six  smaller  temples  grouped  around  it.  The  Great  Hall 
was  340  feet  by  170,  and  contained  134  columns,  some  of  which  were  70  feet  high  and 
12  f«et  in  diameter.  "  The  mass  of  its  central  piers,  illumined  by  a  flood  of  light 
from  above,  and  the  smaller  pillars  of  its  wings,  gradually  fading  into  obscurity, 
are  so  arranged  and  lighted  as  to  convey  an  idea  of  infinite  space ;  while  the  beauty 


18  EGYPT. 

joint  king  with  him,  and  they  reigned  together  until,  accord- 
ing to  Egyptian  tradition,  "  Mineptah's  soul,  like  a  bird, 
suddenly  flew  up  to  heaven  to  exist  forever  in  the  bark  of 
the  sun."  Rameses  II.,  the  Sesostris  the  Great  of  the  Greek 
historians,  carried  his  conquering  arms  far  into  Africa.  Of 
all  the  Pharaohs,  he  was  the  greatest  builder,  and  most  of 
the  ruins  in  Egypt  bear  his  name,  though  they  are  much 
inferior  in  sculpture  and  architecture  to  the  magnificent 
works  of  his  father.*  He  founded  a  library  inscribed  "  The 
Dispensary  of  the  Soul,"  and  gathered  about  him  many  men 
of  genius,  making  his  time  the  golden  age  of  early  art  and 
literature. 

The  Decline  of  Egypt  began  with  the  XXth  dynasty, 
when  it  was  no  longer  able  to  retain  its  vast  conquests.  The 
tributary  peoples  revolted,  and  the  country  was  subdued  in 
turn  by  the  Ethiopians  and  the  Assyrians  (p.  49).  After 
nearly  a  century  of  foreign  rule,  Psammetichus  of  the  XX Vlth 
dynasty  threw  off  the  Assyrian  yoke  and  restored  the  Egyp- 
tian independence.      This  monarch,   by  employing  Greek 

and  massiveness  of  the  forms,  and  the  brilliancy  of  theh*  colored  decorations,  all 
combine  to  stamp  this  as  the  greatest  of  man's  architectural  works."  {Fergusson's 
Hist,  of  Arch.).  Two  miles  further  south,  at  Luxor,  was  another  temple  over 
800  feet  long  ;  this  was  joined  to  Karnak  by  an  avenue  of  sphinxes.  Near  "Thebes 
were  two  other  celebrated  monuments  of  the  XVIIIth  and  XlXth  dynasties,  viz., 
the  Memnonium,  built  by  Amunoph  III.,  and  the  Ramesseum,  by  Rameses  II. 

*  One  of  the  first  acts  of  Rameses  after  Seti's  death  was  to  complete  the  unfin- 
ished temple  of  Abydus,  where  his  father  was  buried.  A  long  inscription  which  he 
placed  at  the  entrance,  ostensibly  in  praise  of  the  departed  Seti,  is  a  good  example 
of  his  own  boastfulness  and  habit  of  self-glorification.  He  says  :  "  The  mot^t  beauti- 
fhl  thing  to  behold,  the  best  thing  to  rear,  is  a  child  with  a  thankful  breast,  whose 
heart  beats  for  his  father.  Wherefore  my  heart  urges  me  to  do  what  is  good  for 
Mineptah.  /  wUl  cause  them  to  talk  forever  and  eternally  of  his  son,  who  has 
awakened  his  name  to  life."  "  I  was  a  little  boy  when  I  attained  to  the  government ; 
then  Seti  gave  over  to  me  the  country,  and  I  gave  my  orders  as  the  chief  of  the  life- 
guards and  of  the  fighters  on  chariots.  My  father  showed  me  publicly  to  the  people, 
and  I  was  a  boy  on  his  lap,  and  he  spake  thus :  '  I  will  cause  him  to  be  crovracd  as 
king,  for  I  will  behold  his  excellence  while  I  am  yet  alive.'  Thus  was  I  like  the  sun- 
god  Ra,  the  first  of  mortals."  For  a  full  translation  of  this  inscription,  see  Brugsch's 
Egypt,  Vol.  11.  The  filial  zeal  of  Rameses  so  declined  in  his  later  years  that  he  even 
chiseled  out  his  father's  name  and  memorials  in  manjr  places  pij  the  temple  wftUs, 
e»^^^tJt»ting  149  own  m  tbejr  pl»Q^ 


THE     CIVILIZATION.  19 

troops,  so  offended  the  native  warriors  that  200,000  of  them 
mutinied  and  emigrated  to  Ethiopia.  His  successor  Necho 
(Pharaoh-Necho  of  the  Scriptures)  maintained  a  powerful 
fleet.  Under  his  orders  the  Phoenician  ships  rounded  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.* 

The  internal  prosperity  of  Egypt  still  continued,  as  is 
shown  by  the  magnificent  monuments  of  this  period,  but 
the  army  was  filled  with  mercenaries,  and  the  last  of  the 
Pharaohs  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  fierce-fighting  Persians 
under  Cambyses.  Egypt,  like  Babylon  (p.  51),  was  now 
reduced  to  a  Persian  province  governed  by  a  satrap. 

2.    THE    CIVILIZATION. 

Egyptian  Society  was  divided  into  distinct  classes,  so  that  no 
man  could  rise  higher  than  the  station  in  which  he  was  born.f  The 
priestly  and  military  classes,  which  included  the  king,  princes  and 
all  men  of  rank,  were  far  above  the  others. 

The  King  received  the  most  exalted  titles,  and  his  authority  was 
supposed  to  come  directly  from  the  gods.  The  courtiers  on  approach- 
ing him  fell  prostrate,  rubbing  the  ground  with  their  noses ;  some- 
times, by  his  gracious  consent,  they  were  permitted  to  touch  his 
sacred  knee.l  That  he  might  be  kept  pure,  he  was  given  from 
childhood  only  the  choicest  and  most  virtuous  companions,  and  no 

*  Twice  during  this  voyage,  says  Herodotus,  the  crews,  fearing  a  want  of  food, 
landed,  drew  their  ships  on  shore,  sowed  grain  and  waited  for  a  harvest.  The  pupil 
will  notice  that  all  this  occurred  over  2000  years  before  the  time  of  Vasco  da  Gama 
(Hist.  U.  S.,  p.  41),  to  whom  is  generally  accorded  the  credit  of  first  circumnavigating 
Africa. 

t  There  seems  to  have  been  an  exception  in  favor  of  talented  scribes.  "Neither 
descent  nor  family  hampered  the  rising  career  of  the  clever.  Many  a  monument  con- 
secrated to  the  memory  of  some  nobleman  who  had  held  high  rank  at  court  has  the 
simple  but  laudatory  inscription,  'His  ancestors  were  unknown  people.'  " — Brugsch. 

X  "  When  they  had  come  before  the  king,  their  noses  touched  the  ground,  and 
their  feet  lay  on  the  ground  for  joy  ;  they  fell  down  to  the  ground  and  with  their 
hands  they  prayed  to  the  king.  Thus  they  lay  prostrate  and  touching  the  earth 
before  the  king,  speaking  thus  :  '  We  are  come  before  thee,  the  lord  of  heaven,  lord 
of  the  earth,  sun,  life  of  the  whole  world,  lord  of  time,  creator  of  the  harvest,  dis- 
penser of  breath  to  all  men,  animator  of  the  gods,  pillar  of  heaven,  threshold  of  the 
earth,  weigher  of  the  balance  of  the  two  worlds,' "  etc.  [Inscription  of  Kameses  II. 
at  Abydus.] 


20 


EGYPT. 


hired  servant  was  allowed  to  approach  his  person.  His  daily  con. 
duct  was  governed  by  a  code  of  rules  laid  down  in  the  sacred  books, 
which  prescribed  not  only  the  hourly  order  and  nature  of  his  occu- 
pations, but  limited  even  the  kind  and  quantity  of  his  food.  He 
was  never  suffered  to  forget  his  obligations,  and  one  of  the  offices  of 
the  High  Priest  at  the  daily  sacrifice  was  to  remind  him  of  his  duties, 
and  by  citing  the  good  works  of  his  ancestors  to  impress  upon  him 
the  nobility  of  a  well-ordered  life.  After  death  he  was  worshipped 
with  the  gods. 

The  Priests  were  the  richest,  the  most  powerful,  and  the  only 
learned  body  of  the  country.  They  were  not  limited  to  sacred 
offices,  and  in  their  caste  comprised  all 
the  mathematicians,  scientists,  lawyers 
and  physicians  of  the  land.  Those 
priests  who  "  excelled  in  virtue  and  wis- 
dom "  were  initiated  into  the  holy  mys- 
teries^ a  privilege  which  they  shared 
only  with  the  king  and  the  prince-royal. 
Among  the  priesthood,  as  in  the  other 
classes,  there  were  marked  distinctions 
of  rank.  The  High  Priests  held  the 
most  honorable  station.  Chief  among 
them  was  the  Prophet,  who  offered 
sacrifice  and  libation  in  the  temple, 
wearing  as  his  insignia  a  leopard  skin 
over  his  robes.  The  king  himself  often 
performed  the  duties  of  this  office.  The 
religious  observances  of  the  priests,  were 
rigid.  They  had  long  fasts,  bathed 
twice  a  day  and  twice  in  the  night,  and 
every  third  day  were  shaven  from  head  to  foot ;  the  most  devout 
using  water  which  had  been  tasted  by  the  sacred  Ibis.  Beans,  pork, 
fish,  onions,  and  various  other  articles  of  diet  were  forbidden  to 
them,  and  on  certain  days  when  a  religious  ceremony  compelled 
every  Egyptian  to  eat  a  fried  fish  before  his  door,  the  priests  burned 
theirs  instead.  Their  dress  was  of  linen  ;  woolen  might  be  used  for 
an  outer,  but  never  for  an  inner  garment,  nor  could  it  be  worn  into 
a  temple.  The  influence  of  the  priests  was  immense,  since  they  not 
only  ruled  the  living,  but  were  supposed  to  have  power  to  open  and 
shut  the  gates  of  eternal  bliss  to  the  dead.  They  received  an  ample 
income  from  the  state,  and  had  one-third  of  the  land  free  of  tax. 


EGYPTIAN    PROPHET. 

(From  Monument  at  Thebes.) 


THE    civilizatio:n^. 


21 


an  inheritance  which  they  claimed  as  a  special  gift  from  the  god- 
dess Isis. 

The  Military  Glass  also  possessed  one-third  of  the  land,  each 
soldier's  share  being  about  eight  acres.  The  army,  which  numbered 
410,000  men,  was  well  disciplined  and  thoroughly  organized.  It 
comprised  archers,  spearmen,  swordsmen,  clubmen,  and  slingers. 
Each  soldier  furnished  his  own  equipments,  and  held  himself  in 
constant  readiness  for  duty.  He  wore  a  metal  coat  of  mail  and  a 
metal  or  cloth  helmet,  and  carried  a  large  shield  made  of  ox-hide 
drawn  over  a  wooden  frame.     The  chariots,  of  which  great  use  was 


EGYPTIAN  WAR  CHARIOT  (THEBES). 


made  in  war,  were  sometimes  richly  ornamented  and  inlaid  with 
gold.  The  king  led  the  army,  and  was  often  accompanied  by  a 
favorite  lion. 

Loicer  Glasses. — All  the  free  population  not  belonging  to  the 
priesthood  or  the  military,  was  divided  into  three  general  classes, 
which  were  again  subdivided,  each  trade  or  occupation  having  its 
own  rank  and  inhabiting  a  certain  quarter  of  the  town.  The  highest 
of  these  classes  included  the  husbandmen  or  farmers,  the  huntsmen, 
Nile-boatmen  and  others;  next  in  rank  were  the  artisans,  trades- 
men, mechanics  and  public  weighers;  while  the  lowest  class  was 
made  up  of  herdsmen,  fishermen,  poulterers  and  common  laborers. 
Swineherds  were  the  most  despised  of  all  men,  and  were  forbidden 
to  enter  the  temples.     As  the  entire  land  of  Egypt  was  owned  by 


;♦  H  t  ^- 


22  EGYPT. 

the  king,  the  priests  and  the  soldiers,  the  lower  classes  could  hold 
no  real  estate ;  but  they  had  strongly-marked  degrees  of  importance, 
depending  upon  the  relative  rank  of  the  trade  to  which  they  were 
born,  and  their  business  success.  No  artisan  could  meddle  in 
political  affairs,  hold  any  civil  office,  or  engage  in  any  other  employ- 
ment than  the  one  to  which  he  had  been  brought  up,  under  a  severe 
penalty.  Every  man  was  obliged  to  have  some  regular  means  of 
subsistence,  a  written  declaration  of  which  was  deposited  period- 
ically with  the  magistrate ;  a  false  account  or  an  unlawful  business 
was  punished  by  death. 

Writing.  —  Hieroglyphics  *  (sacred  sculptures).  —  The  earliest 
Egyptian  writing  was  a  series  of  object  pictures  analogous  to  that 
still  used  by  the  North  American  Indians  {Brief  Hist.  U.  8.,  p.  13). 

Gradually  this  primitive  system 
^  was  altered  and  abbreviated  into 
f  (1)  hieratic  (priestly)  writing, 
THE  NAME  OF  EGVPT  .N  HiEROGL vPH.cs.  ^hc  form  iu  which  most  Egyp- 
tian literature  is  written,  and 
which  is  read  by  first  resolving  it  into  the  original  hieroglyphs ;  and 
(2)  demotic  (writing  of  the  people),  in  which  all  traces  of  the  original 
pictures  are  lost.  During  these  changes  many  meanings  became 
attached  to  one  sign,  so  that  the  same  hieroglyph  might  represent 
an  idea,  the  symbol  of  an  idea,  or  an  abstract  letter,  syllable  or  word. 
An  Egyptian  scribe  used  various  devices  to  explain  his  meaning. 
To  a  hieroglyphic  word  or  syllable  he  would  append  one  or  more 
of  its  letters ;  then,  as  the  letter-signs  had  different  meanings,  he 

*  So  called  by  the  Greeks,  who  thought  them  to  be  mystic  religious  symbols 
understood  only  by  the  priests.  Neither  the  Greeks  nor  Romans  attempted  to 
decipher  them.  The  discovery  of  the  Rosetta  stone  (1799)  furnished  the  first  clue  to 
their  reading.  A  French  engineer,  while  digging  intrenchments  on  the  site  of  an  old 
temple  near  the  Rosetta  mouth  of  the  Nile  {Brief  Hist,  of  France,  p.  229),  unearthed 
a  black  basalt  tablet  inscribed  in  three  languages  :  hieroglyphic,  demotic,  and 
Greek.  It  proved  to  be  a  decree  made  by  the  priests  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy  V. 
(196  b.  c),  whom  it  styled  the  "god  Epiphanes,"  increasing  his  divine  honors  and 
ordering  that  the  command  should  be  engraved  in  the  three  languages  and  placed  in 
all  the  chief  temples.  By  a  comparison  of  the  Greek  and  Egyptian  texts  a  principle 
of  interpretation  was  finally  established.  Hieroglyphics  had  hitherto  been  supposed 
to  represent  only  ideas  or  symbols.  Twenty-three  years  after  the  discovery  of  the 
Rosetta  stone,  the  great  French  scholar  Francois  Champollion  announced  that  they 
express  both  ideas  and  sounds.    The  Egyptians  enclosed  their  royal  names  and  titles 

in  an  oval  ring  or  cartouch.    Out  of  the  four  cartouches,    ^l^^^^Pj    Ptolemaios. 

fen^V;]      Berenike,      (S^^^    Kleopatra,    and     (V^Z^ZTJ 

Alexandros,  Champollion  obtaint-d  a  partial  alphabet,  which  was  completed  by 
subsequent  analyses. 


THE     CIVILIZATION".  23 

would  add  a  picture  of  some  object  that  would  suggest  the  intended 
idea.  Thus,  for  the  word  bread  "^  ,i,  ^^  would  write  the 
syllable  3^^  U§),  then  its  complement  ••(§).•  and,  finally,  as 
a  determinative,  give  the  picture  of  a  loaf  (c^  ).  One  would 
suppose  that  the  form  of  the  loaf  would  itself  have  been  sufficient, 
but  even  that    had  several  interpretations.     In  like  manner,  the 

scribe  appended  the  determinative  ^h,  ^^^  ^"^^^  ^^  words  sig- 
nifying actions  of  the  mouth,  as  eating,  laughing^  speaking,  etc.,  but 
to  those  of  the  thought,  as  hiowing,  judging,  deciding.  To  under- 
stand hieroglyphics,  a  knowledge  of  the  peculiar  ideas  of  the  Egyp- 
tians is  also  necessary.     It  is  easy  to  see  that    ^A      means  worship 

and    *|^      crime ;  but  we  should  hardly  interpret     (m^      as  son, 

or    ^1      as  mother,  imless  we  knew  that  geese  were  believed  to 

possess  a  warm  filial  nature,  and  all  vultures  to  be  females.  Besides 
these  and  other  complications  in  hieroglyphic  writing,  there  was  no 
uniform  way  of  arranging  sentences.  They  were  written  both  hori- 
zontally and  perpendicularly ;  sometimes  part  of  a  sentence  was 
placed  one  way  and  part  the  other ;  sometimes  the  words  read  from 
right  to  left,  sometimes  from  left  to  right,  and  sometimes  they  were 
scattered  about  within  a  given  space  without  any  apparent  order. 

Papyrus. — Books  were  written  and  government  records  kept  on 
papyrus*  (hence,  paper)  rolls.  These  were  generally  about  ten 
inches  wide  and  often  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long.  They  were 
written  upon  with  a  frayed  reed  dipped  into  black  or  red  ink.  As 
the  government  had  the  monopoly  of  the  papyrus,  it  was  very  costly. 

*  The  papyrus  or  paper-reed,  which  flourished  in  ancient  times  so  luxuriantly  that 
it  formed  jungles  along  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  is  no  longer  found  in  Egypt.  (The 
paper-reeds  by  the  brooks,  by  the  mouth  of  the  brooks,  shall  wither,  be  driven  away, 
and  be  no  more. — Isaiah  xix.  7.)  It  had  a  large  three-sided,  tapering  stem,  two  to 
three  inches  broad  at  the  base.  The  reed  was  prepared  for  use  by  peeling  off  the 
smooth  bark  and  cutting  the  inner  mass  of  white  pith  lengthways  into  thin  slices, 
which  were  laid  side  by  side  with  their  edges  touching  one  another.  A  second  layer 
having  been  placed  transversely  upon  the  first  and  the  whole  sprinkled  with  the 
muddy  Nile  water,  a  heavy  press  was  applied  which  united  them  in  one  mass.  It 
was  then  dried  and  cut  into  sheets  of  the  required  size.  Papyrus  was  in  use  until  the 
end  of  the  7th  century  a.  d.,  when  it  was  superseded  by  parchment— prepared  skins. 
The  latter  was  also  used  in  Egypt  at  a  very  early  period,  and  though  it  is  generally 
supposed  to  have  been  invented  by  Eumenes,  king  of  Pergamus,  in  the  2d  century 
B.C.,  "records  written  upon  skins  and  kept  in  the  temple "  are  mentioned  in  the 
time  of  the  XVIIIth  dynasty,  1200  years  before  Eumenes  (p,  156.) 


u 


EGYPT. 


pottery,  stones,  boards, 
the  bark  and  leaves  of 
trees,  and  the  shoulder- 
bones  of  animals. 
Literature.— ^6*6-^  of  the  Bead. — The  most  cele- 
brated Egyptian  book  is  the  "  Book  of  the  Manifestation  to  Light," 
often  called  the  "  Book  of  the  Dead."     It  is  a  ritual  for  the  use 
of  the  soul  in  its  journeys*  after  death,  and  a  copy  more  or  less 


*  The  soul  was  described  as  making  long  and  perilous  journeys  in  the  under- 
world. Instructions  were  given  by  which  it  could  vanquish  the  frightful  monsters 
that  constantly  assailed  it  before  reaching  the  first  gate  of  heaven.  That  passed,. it 
entered  upon  a  series  of  transformations,  becoming  successively  a  hawk,  lotus- 
flower,  heron,  crane,  serpent  and  crocodile,  all  being  symbols  of  Deity.  Meanwhile 
it  retained  a  mysterious  connection  with  its  mummied  body,  and  was  at  liberty  to 
come  and  go  from  the  grave  during  the  day  time  in  any  form  it  chose.  At  last  the 
body,  carefully  preserved  from  decay,  joined  the  soul  in  its  travels  and  they  went 
on  together  to  new  dangers  and  ordeals.  The  most  dreaded  of  aU  encounters,  was 
the  trial  in  the  Great  Hall  of  Justice  before  Osiris  and  his  forty-two  assessors,  where 
the  heart  was  weighed  in  the  infallible  scales  of  Truth,  and  its  fate  irrevocably  fixed. 
The  accepted  soul  was  identified  with  Osiris  and  set  out  on  a  series  of  ecstatic 


THE     CIVILIZATION-.  25 

complete,  according  to  the  fortune  of  the  deceased,  was  enclosed  in 
the  mummy-case.  This  strange  book  contains  some  sublime  pas- 
sages, and  many  of  its  chapters  date  from  the  earliest  antiquity.  As 
suggestive  of  Egyptian  morals,  it  is  interesting  to  find  in  the  soul's 
defence  before  Osiris,  such  sentences  as  these  : 

"  I  have  not  been  idle  ;  I  have  not  been  intoxicated ;  I  have  not  told  secrets  ;  I 
have  not  told  falsehoods  ;  I  have  not  defrauded  ;  I  have  not  slandered  ;  I  have  not 
caused  tears  ;  I  have  given  food  to  the  hungry,  drink  to  the  thirsty,  and  clothes  to 
the  naked." 

Phtah-ho'Up''s  Booh.  — Grood.  old  Prince  Phtah-hotep,  son  of  a 
king  of  the  Vth  dynasty,  wrote  a  moral  treatise  full  of  excellent 
advice  to  the  young  people  of  4000  years  ago.  This  book,  now  pre- 
served in  Paris,  is  believed  to  be  the  oldest  in  the  world.  The  fol- 
lowing extracts  are  noticeable : 

On  Filial  Obedience.  "The  obedient  son  shall  grow  old  and  obtain  favor  :  thus 
have  I,  mys^elf ,  become  an  old  man  on  earth  and  have  lived  110  years  in  favor  with 
the  king,  and  approved  by  my  seniors." 

On  Freedom  from  Arrogance.  "  If  thou  art  become  great,  after  thou  hast  been 
humble,  and  if  thou  hast  amassed  riches  after  poverty,  being  because  of  that  the  first 
in  thy  town  ;  if  thou  art  known  for  thy  wealth  and  art  become  a  great  lord,  let  not 
thy  heart  become  proud  because  of  thy  riches,  for  it  is  God  who  is  the  author  of  them. 
Despise  not  another  who  is  as  thou  wast ;  be  towards  him  as  towards  thy  equal." 

On  Cheerfulness.  '•  Let  thy  face  be  cheerful  as  long  as  thou  livest ;  has  any  one 
come  out  of  the  coffin  after  having  once  entered  it  ?  " 

Miscellaneous  Boohs. — Several  treatises  on  medicine  have  been 
deciphered.  They  generally  abound  in  charms  and  adjurations. 
Works  on  rhetoric  and  mathematics,  and  various  legal  and  j)o- 
litical  documents  are  extant.  Epistolary  correspondence  is  abun- 
dant. A  letter  addressed  by  a  priest  to  one  of  the  would-be  poets 
of  tlie  time,  contains  this  wholesome  criticism  : 

"It  is  very  unimportant  what  flows  over  thy  tongue,  for  thy  compositions  are 
very  confused.  Thou  tearest  the  words  to  tatters,  just  as  it  comes  into  thy  mind. 
Thou  dost  not  take  pains  to  find  out  their  force  for  thyself.  If  thou  rushest  wildly 
forward  thou  wilt  not  succeed.  I  have  struck  out  for  thee  the  end  of  thy  composi- 
tion, and  I  return  to  thee  thy  descriptions.  It  is  a  confused  medley  when  one  hears 
it ;  an  uneducated  person  could  not  understand  it.  It  is  hke  a  man  from  the  low- 
lands speaking  with  a  man  from  Elephantine." 

A  few  works  of  fiction  exist  which  belong  to  the  Xlltli  dynasty, 
and  there  are  many  beautiful  hymns  addressed  to  the  different  gods. 
A  long  and  popular  poem,  the  E]pk,  of  Pentaur,  which  celebrated 

journeys  in  the  boat  of  the  Sun,  the  final  glory  being  a  blissful  and  eternal  rest. 
The  rejected  soul  was  sent  back  to  the  earth  in  the  form  of  a  pig  or  some  other 
andean  animal  to  suffer  degradation  and  torture. 


26 


EGYPT. 


QUEEN   AIDING   KING   IN    TEMPLE 
SERVICE  (THEBES). 


the  deeds  of  Rameses  II.,  won  the  prize  in  its  time  as  a  heroic  song, 
and  was  engraved  on  the  temple  walls  at  Abydus,  Luxor,  Karnak  and 
the  Ramesseum,     It  has  sometimes  been  styled  the  Egyptian  Iliad. 

Education  was  mider  the  control  of  the  priesthood,  who 
schooled  their  own  children  in  the  science  and  literature  of  the  day. 

Great  attention  was  paid  to  mathe- 
matics and  to  writing,  of  which  the 
Egyptians  were  especially  fond.  Geom- 
etry and  mensuration  were  important, 
as  the  yearly  inundation  of  the  Nile 
produced  constant  disputes  concerning 
property  boundaries.  In  music,  only 
those  songs  appointed  by  law  were 
taught,  the  children  being  carefully 
guarded  from  any  of  doubtful  senti- 
ment. As  women  were  treated  with 
great  dignity  and  respect  in  Egypt, 
reigning  as  queens  and  serving  in  the 
holiest  oflBces  of  the  temple,  they 
probably  shared  in  the  advantages  of 
schooling.  Though  a  certain  amount  of  learning  was  open  to  all 
classes,  the  common  people  had  little  education  except  what  per- 
tained to  their  trade  or  calling.  Reading  and  writing  were  so  diffi- 
cult as  to  be  considered  great  accomplishments. 

Momiments  and  Art. — Stupendous  size  and  mysterious  sym- 
bolism characterize  all  tlie  monuments  of  this  strange  people. 
They  built  immense  pyramids  holding  closely-hidden  chambers; 
gigantic  temples  *  whose  massive  entrances,  guarded  by  great  stone 
statues,  were  approached  by  long  avenues  of  colossal  sphinxes;  vast 
temple-courts,  areas  and  halls  in  which  were  forests  of  carved  and 
gaily-painted  colunms;  and  lofty  obelisks,  towers  and  sitting  statues,! 

*  "Upon  broad  brick  terraces  raised  high  above  the  flat  banks  of  the  stream, 
stood  the  Egyptian  temple,  a  strictly  isolated  building.  Huge  sloping  walls,  crowned 
with  the  overshadowing  concave  cornice,  surround  its  enclosure,  and  invest  the 
whole  with  a  solemn  and  mysterious  character.  No  opening  for  windows,  no  colon- 
nades interrupt  the  monotonous  surface  of  the  temple- wall,  which  is  covered  as  with 
a  gigantic  tapestry,  with  brilliantly-colored  intaglio  sculptures  and  hieroglyphics. 
The  narrow,  lofty  entrance,  facing  the  river-bank,  is  between  two  tower-like  sloping 
structures,  rising  high  above  the  rest  of  the  building.  In  front  of  these  pylons  stood 
great  masts  which  on  festive  occasions  were  surmounted  by  pendant  flags." — LUbke's 
History  of  Art. 

t  In  the  Memnonium  at  Thebes,  the  sitting  statue  of  Rameses  11..  made  of 
Syenite  granite,  measured  over  22  feet  across  the  shoulders  and  is  estimated  to  have 
•weighed  887  tons.    It  is  now  in  fragments. 


THE     CIVILIZATION. 


27 


which  still  endure,  though  desert  winds  and  drifting  sands  have 
beaten  upon  them  for  thousands  of  years. 

SculjJture — Painting — Statuary. — Egyptian  granite  is  so  hard  that 
it  is  cut  with  difficulty  by  the  best  steel  tools  of  to-day ;  yet  the 
ancient  sculptures  are  sometimes  graven  to  t^ie  depth  of  several 
inches,  and  show  an  exquisite  finish  and  accuracy  of  detail.  Paint- 
ing was  usually  combmed  with  sculpture,  the  natural  hue  of  the 
objects  represented  being  crudely  imitated.  Blue,  red,  green,  black, 
yellow  and  white  were  the  principal  colors.  Red,  which  typified  the 
sun,*  and  blue,  the  color  of  the  sky  refiected  in  the  Nile,  were  sacred 
tints.  Tombs,  which  were  cut  in  the  solid  rock,  had  no  outer  orna- 
mentation, but  the  interior  was  gaily  painted  with  scenes  from  every- 
day life.  Sarcophagi  and  the  walls  which  en- 
closed temples  were  covered  both  inside  and  out- 
side with  scenes  or  inscriptions.  In  temples,  the 
subjects  for  painting  were  mostly  from  the  Book 
of  the  Dead  ;  in  palaces  were  pictured  the  royal 
hunts  and  conquests.  The  proportion,  form, 
color  and  expression  of  every  statue  were  fixed 
by  laws  prescribed  by  the  priests,  the  effect  most 
sought  being  that  of  immovable  repose.t  A 
wooden  statue  found  at  Sakkarah  and  belonging 
to  one  of  the  earliest  dynasties  is  remarkable  for 
its  fine  expression  and  evident  effort  at  por- 
traiture. 

Mode  of  Drawing — Perspective.— Jxi  drawing  the 
human  form,  the  entire  body  was  traced,  after  which  the  drapery 
was  added  (see  cut).  Several  artists  were  employed  on  one  picture. 
The  first  drew  squares  of  a  definite  size  upon  which  he  sketched  in 
red  an  outline  of  the  desired  figure ;  the  next  corrected  and  improved 
it  in  black ;  the  sculptor  then  followed  with  his  chisel  and  other 
tools;  and  finally,  the  most  important  artist  of  all  laid  on  the  pre- 
scribed colors.  The  king  was  drawn  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  his 
subjects ;  his  dignity  being  suggested  by  his  colossal  size.    Gods  and 


SON    OF    R AMESES    II 

(Thebes.) 


*  Red  was  also  the  color  of  Typhon,  the  evil  god  (p.  .31). 

t  All  Egyptian  statues,  whether  erect,  seated  or  kneeling,  have  a  stiflf,  rigid  pose, 
and  are  generally  fastened  at  the  back  to  a  pillar.  During  the  reign  of  the  Ptolemies 
(323-30  B.  c.)  the  priests  ordered  the  statues  of  the  gods  to  be  made  with  one  foot  in 
advance  of  the  other.  So  great  were  the  horror  and  fear  of  the  masses  at  seeing  their 
deities  apparently  ready  to  walk,  that  they  rashed  from  all  sides  with  strong  ropes 
and  tied  the  divinities  to  their  pedestals  lest  they  shoi;ld  be  tempted  to  roam  abroad, 
and  thus  leave  the  country  godless, 


EGYPT, 


goddesses  were  frequently  represented  with  the  head  of  an  animal 
on  a  human  form.  There  was  no  idea  of  perspective,  and  the  general 
effect  of  an  Egyptian  painted  scene  was  that  of  grotesque  stiffness. 

Practical  Arts  and  Inventions. — We  have  seen  how  the 
Egyptians  excelled  in  cutting  granite.  Steel  was  in  use  as  early  as 
the  IVth  dynasty,  and  pictures  on  the  Memphite  tombs  represent 
butchers  sharpening  their  knives  on  a  bar  of  that  metal  attached  to 
their  apron.  Great  skill  was  shown  in  alloying,  casting  and  solder- 
ing metals.  Some  of  their  bronze  implements,  though  buried  for 
ages,  and  since  exposed  to  the  damp  of  European  climates,  are  still 
smooth  and  bright.  They  possessed  the  art  of  imparting  elasticity 
to  bronze  or  brass ;  and  of  overlaying  bronze  with  a  rich  green  by 
means  of  acids. 

Olnss  bottles  are  represented  in  the  earliest  sculptures,  and 
the  Egyptians  had  their  own  secrets  in  coloring  which  the  best 
Venetian  glass-makers  of  to-day  are  unable  to  discover.  Their  glass 
mosaics  were  so  delicately  ornamented  that  some  of  the  feathers  of 
birds  and  other  details  can  be  made  out  only  with  a  lens,  which 
would  imply  that  this  means  of  magnifying  was  used  in  Eg3^pt. 
G^ims  and  precious  stones  were  successfully  imitated  in  glass, 
and  Wilkinson  says,  "The  mock  pearls  found  by  me  in  Thebes 
were  so  well  counterfeited  that  even  now 
it  is  difficult  with  a  strong  lens  to  detect 
the  imposition." 

Goldsmiths  washing  and  working  gold 
are  seen  on  monuments  of  the  IVth  dy- 
nasty ;  and  gold  arid  silver  wire  were  woven 
into  cloth  and  used  in  embroidery  as  early 
as  the  Xllth  dynasty.  Gold  rings,  brace- 
lets, armlets,  necklaces,  earrings,  vases  and 
statues  were  common  in  the  same  age, 
the  cups  being  often  beautifully  engraved 
and  studded  with  precious  stones.  Ob- 
jects of  art  were  sometimes  made  of  silver 
or  bronze  inlaid  with  gold,  or  of  baser 
metals  gilded  so  as  to  give  the  effect  of 
solid  gold. 

Veneering  was  extensively  practiced,  and 
in  sculptures  over  3300  years  old  workmen  are  seen  with  glue-pot 
on  the  fire  fastening  the  rare  woods  to  the  common  sycamore  and 
acacia.  In  cabinet  work  Egypt  excelled,  and  house-furniture  as- 
sumed graceful  and  elegant  forms. 


EGYPTIAN   EASY  CHAIR. 


THE     CIVILIZATION 


29 


Flax  and  Cotton  were  grown,  and  great  perfection  was  reached  in 
spinning  and  weaving.  Specimens  of  linen  have  been  found  in  Mem- 
phi  te  tombs  which  are  in  touch  comparable  to  silk  and  not  infe- 
rior in  texture  to  our  finest  cambric.     Strength  was  combined  with 


EGYPTIAN    COUCH,    PILLOW,    AND   STEPS. 

fineness,  and  the  flax-strings  used  for  fowling-nets  were  so  delicate 
that  "  a  man  could  carry  nets  enough  to  surround  a  whole  wood.'" 
Mordants  were  employed  in  dyeing  cloth,  as  in  our  own  manufac- 
tories.    Finally,  wooden  hoes,  shovels,  forks  and  ploughs,  toothed 

sickles  and  drags 
aided  the  farmer 
in  his  work ;  the 
carpenter  had 
axe,  hammer,  file, 
adze,  handsaw, 
chisel, drill, plane, 
right-angle,  ruler 
and  plummet;  the 
glass-worker  and 
gem-cutter  used 
emery  powder  and 
the  lapidaiy's  wheel ;  the  potter,  too,  had  his  wheel  upon  which  he 
worked  the  clay  after  he  had  kneaded  it  with  his  feet ;  the  public 
weigher  was  furnished  with  stamped  weights  and  measures,  and 
delicate  scales  for  balancing  the  gold  and  silver  rings  used  as  cur- 
rency;  the  musicians  played  on  double  and  single  pipes,  harps, 
flutes,  guitars,  lyres,  tambourines,  and  cymbals ;  while  the  drum  and 
trumpet  cheered  the  soldier  in  his  march. 


EGYPTIAN    MUSICIANS   (tHE    GUITAR,    HARP   AND    DOUBLE    PIPE). 


30  EGYPT. 


3.    THE    MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

General  Character.— The  Egyptians  were  mild  in  disposition, 
polite  in  manners,  reverential  to  their  elders  and  superiors,  extremely 
loyal  and  patriotic,  and  intensely  religious.  They  have  been  called 
a  gloomy  people,  but  their  sculptures  reveal  a  keen  sense  of  humor 
and  love  of  caricature.  They  were  especially  fond  of  ceremonies  and 
of  festivals.  Their  religion  formed  a  part  of  their  every-day  life,  and 
was  interwoven  with  all  their  customs. 

Religion. — The  Egyptian  priests  believed  in  one  invisible,  over- 
ruling,  self-created  God  ;  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  a  judgment 
after  death  ;  the  final  annihilation  of  the  wicked ;  and  the  ultimate 
absorption  of  the  good  into  the  eternal  Deity. 

"  God  created  His  own  members,  which  are  tJie  gods,"  tliey  said  ; 
and  so  out  of  one  great  God  grew  a  host  of  Jesser  ones,  regarded  by 
the  priests  as  only  His  attributes  and  manifestations,  but  becoming  to 
the  people  distinct  and  separate  divinities.  Natural  objects  and  prin- 
ciples were  thus  deified — the  soil,  the  sky,  the  East,  the  West,  even 
the  general  idea  of  time  and  space.  Each  month  and  day  had  its  own 
god.  The  Nile,  as  the  source  of  the  country's  fertility,  was  especially 
revered,  and  the  conflict  of  God  with  sin  was  seen  in  the  life-giving 
river,  and  the  barren,  encroaching  desert. 

The  Sun,  especially  in  later  times,  was  the  great  exponent  of 
Deity.  His  mysterious  disappearance  each  night,  and  his  return  every 
morning  to  roll  over  the  heavens  with  all  the  splendor  of  the  pre- 
ceding day,  were  events  full  of  symbolic  meaning.  The  rising  sun 
was  the  beautiful  young  god  Horus ;  in  his  midday  glory,  he  was  Ra  ; 
as  he  neared  the  western  horizon  he  became  Tum ;  and  during  the 
night  he  was  Amun.  Each  of  these  gods,  as  well  as  the  many  others 
connected  with  the  sun,  had  his  own  specific  character.  This  complex 
sun  god  was  imagined  to  float  through  the  sky  in  a  boat  accompanied 
by  the  souls  of  the  Supremely  Blest,  and  at  night  to  pass  into  the 
regions  of  the  dead. 

Triad  of-  Orders.— "Vhere  were  three  orders  of  gods.     The  first  * 

*  In  Thebes,  Amun-Ra,  the  "Concealed  God"  or  "Absolute  Spirit  "  headed  the 
deities  of  the  first  order.  He  was  represented  as  having  the  head  of  a  ram,  the 
hieroglyphic  of  a  ram  signifying  also  concealment.  In  Memphis,  Phtah,  "  Father 
of  the  Beginnings,"  the  Creator,  was  chief  ;  his  symbol  was  the  scarabseus  or  beetle, 
an  image  of  which  was  placed  on  the  heart  of  every  mummy.  Phtah  was  father  of 
Ra,  the  sun-god.  Ra  was,  in  the  mystic  sense,  that  which  is  to-day,  the  existing 
present;  the  hawk  was  his  emblem.  Pasht,  his  sister,  one  of  the  personifications 
of  the  sun's  strong  rays,  sometimes  healthful,  sometimes  baneful,  was  both  loved  and 
feared.    She  was  especially  worshipped  at  Bubastis,  but  her  statues,  having  the  head 


THE     MAKI^ERS     Ai^D     CUSTOMS. 


31 


BRONZE   FIGURE   OF  APIS. 


was  for  the  priesthood  and  represented  the  ideal  and  spiritual  part  of 
the  religion  ;  the  second  impersonated  human  faculties  and  powers ; 
and  the  third — the  most  popular  of  all  among  the  people — was  made 
up  of  forms  and  forces  in  Nature. 

Triads  of  Gods. — Each  town  or  city  had  its  specially-honored  triad 
of  deities  to  whom  its  temples  were  dedicated.  The  triads  often  con- 
sisted of  father,  mother,  and  son  ;  but  sometimes  of  two  gods  and 
a  king.    Osiris,  who  with  Isis  and  _ 

Horns  formed  the  most  celebrated 
of  the  triads,  was  worshipped 
throughout  the  land.  So  popular 
were  these  deities  that  it  has 
been  said, "  With  the  exception  of 
Amun  and  Neph.  they  comprise 
all  Egyptian  mythology."  * 

Animal  Worship. — As  early  as 
the  lid  dynasty  certain  animals 
came  to  be  regarded  as  em- 
blems or  even  incarnations  of  the 
gods.  The  bull  Apis,  whose  tem- 
ple was  at  Memphis,  was  sup- 
posed to  be  inhabited  by  Osiris 

himself,  and  the  sacred  presence  of  the  god  to  be  attested  by  cer- 
tain marks  on  the  body  of  the  animal.     Apis  was  consulted  as  an 

of  a  cat,  are  common  all  over  Egypt.  Neph,  often  confounded  with  Amun  and,  like 
him,  wearing  the  ram's  head,  was  the  Divine  Breath  or  Spirit  pervading  matter; 
sheep  were  sacred  to  him.  Thoth,  son  of  Neph,  was  god  of  intelligence ;  the  ibis 
was  his  emblem.  Sate,  the  wife  of  Neph  and  one  of  the  forms  of  Isis,  was  the  god- 
dess of  vigilance ;  she  was  the  eastern  sky  waiting  for  the  morning  sun.  Athor, 
goddess  of  love,  was  the  beautiful  western  sky,  wife  of  the  evening  sun,  taking  the 
wearied  traveler  to  rest  in  her  arms  after  each  day's  labor ;  the  cow  was  her  emblem. 
Neith,  wife  of  Phtah,  was  goddess  of  wisdom  ;  she  was  the  night  sky  which  induces 
reflection.  Maut,  the  Mother  Goddess  and  greatest  of  the  sky  divinities — which 
were  all  feminine— was  the  cool  night  sky  tenderly  brooding  over  the  hot,  exhausted 
earth  ;  the  shrew  mouse  was  sacred  to  her.  Typhon  was  the  common  enemy  of  all 
the  other  gods ;  his  emblems  were  the  pig,  the  ass,  and  the  hippopotamus. 

*  It  was  related  that  Osiris  once  went  about  the  earth  doing  good  ;  that  he  was 
persecuted  and  slain  by  Set  (Typhon)  his  brother ;  that  his  wife  Isis,  by  her  prayers 
and  invocations,  assisted  in  his  resurrection ;  and  that  finally  Horus,  his  son, 
avenged  his  wrongs  and  destroyed  Set.  In  this  myth  Osiris  represents  the  Divine 
Goodness :  Isis  is  the  Love  of  Goodness  ;  Set,  the  principle  of  Evil,  and  Horus,  the 
Divine  Triumph.  Osiris  had  a  multitude  of  characters.  He  was  the  Nile  ;  he  was 
the  sun ;  he  was  the  judge  of  the  dead  ;  from  him  all  souls  emanated,  and  in  him 
all  justified  souls  were  swallowed  up  at  last.  To  know  "The  mysteries  of  Osiris" 
was  the  glory  of  the  priesthood.  Isis,  too,  appeared  in  many  forms  and  was  called 
by  the  Greeks  "She  of  the  ten-thousand  names."  Mystic  legends  made  her  the 
mother,  wife,  sister  and  daughter  of  Osiris ;  while  Horus  was  their  son  and  brother, 
and  was  Osiris  himself. 


32  EGYPT. 

oracle,  and  his  breath  was  said  to  confer  upon  children  the  gift  of 
prophecy.  When  an  Apis  died,  great  was  the  mourning  until  the 
priests  found  his  successor,  after  which  the  rejoicing  was  equally 
demonstrative.  The  cost  of  burying  the  Apis  was  so  great  as  some- 
times to  ruin  the  officials  who  had  him  in  charge.*  The  calf  Mnevis 
at  Heliopolis  and  the  white  cow  of  Athor  at  Athribis  were  also  rev- 
erenced as  incarnations  of  Deity.  Other  animals  were  considered  as 
only  emblems.  Of  these,  the  hawk,  ape,  ibis,  cat  f  and  asp  were  every- 
where worshipped,  but  crocodiles,  dogs,  jackals,  frogs,  beetles  and 
shrew  mice,  as  well  as  certain  plants  and  vegetables,  were  venerated 
in  different  sections  of  the  country.  Those  saCred  in  one  nome  were 
often,  in  others,  hated  and  hunted  or  used  for  food.  Thus,  at  Thebes 
the  crocodile  and  the  sheep  were  worshipped,  while  tlie  goat  was 
eaten ;  at  Mendes  the  sheep  was  eaten  and  the  goat  worshipped  ;  and 
at  Apollinopolis  the  crocodile  was  so  abhorred  as  an  emblem  of  the 
evil  spirit,  that  the  people  set  apart  an  especial  day  to  hunt  and  kill 
as  many  crocodiles  as  possible,  throwing  the  dead  bodies  before  the 
temple  of  their  own  god. 

The  crocodile  was  principally  worshipped  about  Lake  Moeris  in  the 
Fayoom.  A  chosen  number  of  these  animals  was  kept  in  the  tem- 
ples, where  they  were  given  elegant  apartments  and  treated  to  every 
luxury  at  public  expense.  Let  us  imagine  a  crocodile, .fresh  from 
a  warm,  sumptuous  bath,  anointed  with  the  most  precious  oint- 
ments and  perfumed  with  fragrant  odors  ;  its  head  and  neck  glittering 
with  jeweled  earrings  and  necklace,  and  its  feet  with  bracelets,  wal- 
lowing on  1  rich  and  costly  carpet  to  receive  the  worship  of  intelligent 
human  beings  !  Its  death  was  mourned  as  a  public  calamity  ;  its  body, 
wrapped  in  linen,  was  carried  to  the  embalmers,  attended  by  a  train  of 
people  weeping  and  beating  their  breasts  in  grief ;  then,  having  been 
expensively  embalmed  and  bandaged  in  gaily-colored  mummy-cloths, 
amid  imposing  ceremonies  it  was  laid  away  in  its  rock-sepulchre.    ■ 

£jmbalming. — This  art  was  a  secret  known  only  to  those  priests 

*  Ancient  authorities  declared  that  no  Apis  was  allowed  to  live  over  twenty-five 
years  ;  if  he  attained  that  age  he  was  drowned  with  great  ceremony  in  the  Nile. 
The  following  inscription  upon  a  recently-discovered  memorial  stone  erected  to  an 
Apis  of  the  XXIId  dynasty,  shows  that  at  least  one  Apis  exceeded  that  age :  "  This  is 
the  day  on  which  the  god  was  carried  to  his  rest  in  the  beautiful  region  of  the  west, 
and  was  laid  in  the  grave,  in  his  everlasting  house  and  in  his  eternal  abode."  *  *  * 
*'  His  glory  was  sought  for  in  all  places.  After  many  months  he  was  found  in  the 
temple  of  Phtah,  beside  his  father,  the  Memphian  god  Phtah."  *  *  *  "The  full 
age  of  this  god  was  26  years." 

t  When  a  cat  died  in  any  private  dwelling  the  inmates  shaved  their  eyebrows ; 
when  a  dog  died,  they  shaved  their  entire  bodies.  The  killing  of  a  cat,  even  acci- 
dentally, was  reckoned  a  capital  offence.  All  sacred  animal's  were  embalmed,  and 
buried  with  impressive  ceremonies. 


THE     MARKERS     AND     CUSTOMS. 


33 


A  MUMMY   IN   BANDS. 


who  had  it  in  charge.  The  mummy  was  more  or  less  elaborately  pre- 
pared, according  to  the  wealth  and  station  of  the  deceased.  In  the 
most  expensive  process 
the  brain  and  intestines 
were  extracted,  cleansed 
with  palm-wine  and  aro- 
matic spices,  and  either 
returned  to  the  body  or 
deposited  in  vases  which 

Avere  placed  in  the  tomb  with  the  coffin.*  The  body  was  also  cleansed 
and  filled  with  a  mixture  of  resin  and  aromatics,  after  which  it  was 
kept  in  nitre  for  forty  days.  It  was  then  wrapped  in  bands  of  fine 
linen  smeared  on  the  inner  side  with  gum.  There  were  sometimes  a 
thousand  yards  of  bandages  on  one  mummy.  A  thick  papyrus  case, 
fitted  while  damp  to  the  exact  shape  of  the  bandaged  body,  next 
enclosed  it.  This  case  was  richly  painted  and  ornamented,  the  hair 
and  features  of  the  deceased  being  imitated,  and  eyes  inlaid  with 
brilliant  enamel  inserted.  Sometimes  the  face  was  covered  with 
heavy  gold  leaf.  Often  a  network  of  colored  beads  was  spread  over 
the  body,  and  a  winged  scarabseus  (p.  80)  placed  upon  the  breast.  A 
long  line  of  hieroglyphics  extending  down  the  front  told  the  name  and 
quality  of  the  departed.     The  inner  case  was  inclosed  in  three  other 


AN    EGYPTIAN    SARCOPHAGUS. 

cases  of  the  same  form,  all  richly  painted  in  different  patterns.  A 
wooden  or  carved  stone  sarcophagus  was  the  final  receptacle  in  the 
tomb,  f 

*  So  careful  were  the  Egyptians  to  show  proper  respect  to  all  that  belonged  to 
the  human  body,  that  even  the  sawdust  of  the  floor  where  they  cleansed  it  was  tied 
up  iu  small  linen  bags,  which,  to  the  number  of  twenty  or  thirty,  were  deposited  in 
vases  and  buried  near  the  tomb. 

t  In  a  less  expensive  mode  of  embalming,  the  internal  parts  were  dissolved  by 
oil  of  cedar,  after  which  the  body  was  salted  with  nitre  as  before.    The  ordinary 


34 


EGYPT. 


Burial. — When  any  person  died,  all  the  women  of  the  house  left 
the  body  and  ran  out  into  the  streets,  wailing,  and  throwing  dust  upon 
their  heads.  Their  friends  and  relatives  joined  them  as  they  went, 
and  if  the  deceased  was  a  person  of  quality,  others  accompanied  them 
out  of  respect.  Having  thus  advertised  the  death,  they  returned  home 
and  sent  the  body  to  the  embalmers.  During  the  entire  period  of  its 
absence  they  kept  up  an  ostentatious  show  of  grief,  sittin<^  unwashed 
and  unshaven,  in  soiled  and  torn  garments, 
singing  dirges  and  making  lamentation. 
After  the  body  was  restored  to  them,  if 
they  wished  to  delay  its  burial,  they  placed 
it  in  a  movable  wooden  closet  standing 
against  the  wall  of  the  principal  room  in 
the  house.  Here,  morning  and  evening, 
the  members  of  the  family  came  to  weep 
over  and  embrace  it,  making  offerings  to 
the  gods  in  its  behalf.  Occasionally  it  was 
brought  out  to  join  in  festivities  given  in 
its  honor  (p.  43).  The  time  having  come  to 
entomb  it,  an  imposing  procession  was 
formed,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  mummy 
was  drawn  upright  on  a  sledge  to  the  sacred 
lake  adjoining  every  large  city.  At  this 
point  forty-two  chosen  officials — emblem- 
atical of  the  forty-two  judges  in  the  court 
of  Osiris  (p.  24) — formed  a  semicircle  around  the  mummy,  and  formal 
inquiries  were  made  as  to  its  past  life  and  character.  If  no  accusation 
was  heard,  an  eulogium  was  pronounced  and  the  body  was  passed  over 
the  lake.  If,  however,  an  evil  life  was  proven,  the  lake  could  not  be 
crossed,  and  the  distressed  friends  were  compelled  to  leave  the  body 
of  their  disgraced  relative  unburied,  or  to  carry  it  home  and  wait  till 
their  gifts  and  devotions,  united  to  the  prayers  of  the  priesthood, 
should  pacify  the  gods.  Every  Egyptian,  the  king  included,  was  sub- 
jected to  the  "  trial  of  tbe  dead,"  and  to  be  refused  intennent  was  the 
greatest  possible  dishonor.  The  best  security  a  creditor  could  have 
was  a  mortgage  on  the  mummies  of  his  debtor's  ancestors  ;  if  the  debt 
were  not  paid,  the  delinquent  forfeited  his  own  burial  and  that  of  his 
entire  family. 

mummy-cloth  was  coarse,  resembling  our  sacldng.  The  bodies  of  the  poor  were 
simply  cleansed  and  salted,  or  submerged  in  liquid  pitch.  These  are  the  most 
numerous  of  all  kinds,  and  are  now  found  black,  dry,  heavy,  and  of  disagreeable 
odor.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  few  mummies  of  children  have  been  discovered.  The 
priests  had  the  monopoly  of  everything  connected  with  embalming  and  burial,  and 
they  not  only  resold  tombs  which  had  been  occupied,  but  even  trafficked  in  second- 
hand mummy-cases. 


a  woman  embracing  her 

husband's  mummy. 

(Thebes.) 


THE     MANNERS     AKD     CUSTOMS.  35 

The  mummies  of  the  poorer  classes  were  deposited  in  pits  in  the 
plain  or  in  recesses  cut  in  the  rock  and  then  closed  up  with  masonry  ; 
those  of  the  lowest  orders  were  wrapped  in  coarse  cloth,  mats,  or  a 
bundle  of  palm  sticks,  and  buried  in  the  earth  or  huddled  into  the 


THE    FUNERAL   OF   A    MUMMY    (AFTER    BRIDGEMAN). 

general  repository.  Various  articles  were  placed  in  the  tombs,  espe- 
cially images  of  the  deceased  person  and  utensils  connected  with  his 
profession  or  trade.  Among  the  higher  classes  these  objects  were 
often  of  great  value  and  included  elegant  vases,  jewelry  and  important 
papyri. 

SCENES   IN    REAL    LIFE. 

Scene  I. — Pyramid  Building  (IVth  dynasty).* — Let  us  imagine 
ourselves  in  Egypt  about  B.C.  2400.  It  is  the  middle  of  November,  The 
Nile,  which,  after  its  yearly  custom,  began  to  rise  in  June,  changing 
its  color  rapidly  from  a  turbid  red  to  a  slimy  green  and  then  again  to 
red,  overflowed  its  banks  in  early  August,  and  spreading  its  waters 
on  either  side  made  the  country  to  look  like  an  immense  lake  dotted 
with  islands.  For  the  last  month  it  has  been  gradually  creeping  back 
to  its  winter  banks,  leaving  everywhere  behind  it  a  fresh  layer  of  rich 
brown  slime.     Already  the  farmers  are  out  with  their  light  wooden 

*  Sixty-seven  Egyptian  pyramids  have  been  discovered  and  explored,  all  situated 
on  tlie  edge  of  tlie  desert,  west  of  tlie  Nile.  The  three  great  pyramids  of  Gizeh  built 
by  Khufa  and  his  successors  are  the  most  celebrated.  The  great  pyramid  built  in 
steps  at  Sakliarah  and  said  to  date  from  the  Ist  or  lid  dynasty  is  believed  by  many 
to  be  the  oldest  monument  in  Egypt,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  ruins  of  the 
Tower  of  Babel,  the  most  ancient  in  the  world. 


36 


EGYPT, 


A    MODERN    SHADOOF. 


plougts  and  lioes,  or  are  harrowing  with  bushes  the  moist  mud  on 
which  the  seed  has  been  thrown  broadcast,  and  which  is  to  be  tram- 
pled down  by  the  herds  driven  in  for  the  purpose.     Tlie  first  crop  of 

clover  is  nearing  its 
harvest ;  by  proper  care 
and  a  persistent  use 
of  the  shadoof*  three 
more  crops  will  be 
gathered  from  the  same 
ground.  The  crocodile 
and  the  hippopotamus 
haunt  the  river  shores  ; 
in  the  desert  the  wolf, 
jackal  and  hyena  prowl; 
but  the  greatest  scourge 
and  torment  of  the  val- 
ley are  the  endless 
swarms  of  flies  and 
gnats  which  rise  from  the  mud  of  the  subsiding  Nile. 

King  Khufu  of  the  IVth  dynasty  is  now  on  the  thione,  and  the 
Great  Pyramid,  liis  intended  tomb,  is  in  process  of  erection  near  Mem- 
phis, the  city  founded  by  Menes  three  hundred  years  ago.  One  hun 
dred  thousand  dusky  menf  are  toiling  under  a  burning  sun,  now 
quarrying  in  the  limestone  rock  of  the  Arabian  hills,  now  tugging  at 
creaking  ropes  and  rollers,  straining  every  nerve  and  muscle  under  the 
rods  of  hard  overseers,  as  along  the  solid  causeway  and  up  the  inclined 
plane  they  drag  the  gigantic  stones  they  are  to  set  in  place.  Occasion- 
ally a  detachment  is  sent  up  the  river  in  boats  to  Syene  to  bring  fine 
red  granite,  which  is  to  be  polished  for  casings  to  the  inner  passages 
and  chambers.  Not  a  moment  is  lost  from  work  save  when  they  sit 
down  in  companies  on  the  hot  sand  to  eat  their  government  rations  of 
"radishes,  onions  and  garlics,"  the  aggregate  cost  of  which  is  to  be 
duly  inscribed  upon  the  pyramid  itself.  So  exhausting  is  this  forced 
and  unpaid  labor  that  four  times  a  year  a  fresh  levy  is  needed  to  take 
the  place  of  the  worn-out  toilers.  When  this  pyramid  is  finished— and 
it  will  continue  to  grow  as  long  as  the  king  shall  live  % — it  will  stand 


*  The  pole  and  bucket  with  which  water  was  raised  from  the  Nile  to  irrigate  the 
land.    It  is  still  in  use  in  Egypt.  . 

t  Ten  years  were  consumed  in  building  the  causeway  whereon  the  stone  was 
brought  from  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  to  the  base  of  the  pyramid.  The  con.struc- 
tion  of  the  pyramid  required  twenty  years  more.  Herodotus  thought  the  causeway 
as  great  a  work  as  the  pyramid  itself,  and  described  it  as  being  built  of  polished 
stone  and  ornamented  with  carvings  of  animals. 

$  As  soon  as  a  Pharaoh  mounted  his  throne,  he  gave  orders  to  some  nobleman  to 
plan  the  work  and  cut  the  stone  for  the  royal  tomb.    The  kernel  of  the  future  edi- 


THE     MAtq-KERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  37 

480  feet  high  with  a  base  covering  13  acres.  Its  sides,  which  exactly 
face  the  four  cardinal  points,  will  be  cased  with  highly-polished  stone 
fitted  into  the  angles  of  the  steps,  the  workmen  beginning  at  the  apex 
and  working  downward,  leaving  behind  them  a  smooth,  glassy  sur- 
face which  cannot  be  scaled.  There  will  be  two  sepulchral  chambers 
with  passages  leading  thereto,  and  five  smaller  chambers,*  built  to 
relieve  the  pressure  of  so  great  a  mass  of  stone.  The  king's  chamber, 
which  is  situated  in  the  center  of  the  pyramid  and  is  to  hold  the  royal 
sarcophagus,  will  be  ventilated  by  air  shafts  and  defended  by  a  suc- 
cession of  granite  portcullises.  But  Kliufu  will  not  rest  here,  for  his 
oppression  and  alleged  impiety  have  so  angered  the  people  that  they 
will  bury  him  elsewhere,  leaving  his  magnificently-planned  tomb  with 
its  empty  sarcophagus  to  be  wondered  and  speculated  over  thousands 
of  years  after  his  ambitious  heart  has  ceased  to  beat. 

Meantime,  other  great  public  works  are  in  progress.!  Across  the 
arm  of  the  Red  Sea  on  the  peninsula  of  Sinai — not  sacred  Sinai  yet, 
for  there  are  centuries  to  come  before  Moses — are  the  king's  copper 
and  turquoise  mines.  Sculpture  is  far  advanced,  and  images  of  gold, 
bronze,  ivory  and  ebony  are  presented  to  the  gods.     The  whole  land 

flee  was  raised  on  the  limestone  soil  of  the  desert  in  the  form  of  a  small  pyramid 
built  in  steps,  of  which  the  well-constructed  and  finished  interior  formed  the  king's 
eternal  dwelling,  with  the  stone  sarcophagus  lying  on  the  rocky  floor.  A  second 
covering  was  added,  stone  by  stone,  on  the  outside  of  this  kernel ;  a  third  to  this 
second  ;  and  to  this  a  fourth  ;  the  mass  growing  greater  the  longer  the  king  lived. 
Every  pyramid  had  its  own  proper  name  ;  that  of  Khufu  bore  a  title  of  honor— 
"  The  Lights.''''— BrugscK' 8  Egypt. 

*  In  one  of  these  small  chambers,  Colonel  Vyse,  an  English  explorer  who  was  the 
first  to  enter  them,  found  the  royal  name  scrawled  in  red  ochre  on  the  stones,  as  if 
done  by  some  idle  overseer  in  the  quarry.  The  chambers  mentioned  in  the  text  and 
a  subterranean  room  excavated  in  the  rock  below  the  base  of  the  pyramid  are  all 
that  have  been  discovered,  the  builders  having  used  every  precaution  to  conceal  and 
guard  the  entrances.  It  has  been  ingeniously  calculated  that  this  pyramid  is  large 
enough  to  contain  thirty-seven  hundred  rooms  the  size  of  the  king's  chamber  (34  x 
17  feet)  with  partition  walls  between  them  as  thick  as  the  rooms  themselves.  It  is  a 
proof  of  the  architectm-al  skill  of  the  early  Egyptians  that  they  could  construct  in 
such  a  mass  of  stone,  chambers  and  passages  which,  with  a  weight  of  millions  of  tons 
pressing  upon  them,  should  preserve  their  original  shape  without  crack  or  flaw  for 
thousands  of  years. 

t  Some  Egyptologers  believe  that  the  Great  Sphinx— which  is  a  recumbent, 
human-headed  lion  146  feet  long,  sculptured  from  the  solid  rock— dates  from  this 
time,  some  think  that  it  existed  before  the  IVth  dynasty,  and  others  attribute  it 
to  the  XVIIIth  dynasty.  A  tablet  has  been  found  which  mentions  Khufu  in  con- 
nection with  "The  Temple  of  the  Sphinx,"  but  the  date  of  this  inscription  is  itself 
disputed.  A  vast  temple,  however,  was  discovered  by  M.  Mariette  in  1866,  buried  in 
the  sand  of  the  desert  near  the  Sphinx.  It  is  constructed  of  enormous  blocks  of 
black  or  rose-colored  granite  and  oriental  alabaster,  without  sculpture  or  ornament. 
In  a  well  not  far  distant  were  found  fragments  of  splendid  statues,  claimed  to  be  of 
Shafra,  the  successor  of  Khufu. 


38  EGYPT. 

swarms  with  a  rapidly -increasing  population,  but  food  is  abundant,* 
raiment  little  more  than  a  name,  and  lodging  free  on  the  warm  earth. 
Besides,  the  numbers  are  kept  from  too  great  increase  by  the  royal 
policy  which  rears  enormous  monuments  at  the  price  of  flesh  and 
blood.  The  overwrought  gangs  constantly  sink  under  their  heavy 
burdens,  and  hasten  on  to  crowd  the  common  and  repulsive  mummy- 
pits  in  the  limestone  hills. 

Scene  II. — A  Lord  of  the  IVth  Dynasty  has  large  estates  managed 
by  a  host  of  traftied  servants.  He  is  not  only  provided  with  baker, 
butler,  barber  and  other  household  domestics,  but  with  tailor,  sail- 
maker,  goldsmith,  tile-glazer,  potter  and  glass  blower.f  His  musicians 
with  their  harps,  pipes  and  flutes,  his  acrobats,  pet  dogs  and  apes, 
amuse  his  leisure  hours.  He  has  his  favorite  games  of  chance  or  skill 
which,  if  he  is  too  indolent  to  play  himself,  his  slaves  play  in  his 
presence.  He  is  passionately  fond  of  hunting,  and  of  fishing  in  the 
numerous  canals  which  intersect  the  country  and  are  fed  from  the 
Nile.  He  has  small  papyrus  canoes,  and  also  large,  square  sailed, 
double-masted  boats,  in  which  he  sometimes  takes  out  his  wife  and 
children  for  a  moonlight  sail  upon  the  river,  his  harpers  sitting  cross- 
legged  at  the  end  of  the  boat  and  playing  the  popular  Egyptian  airs. 
But  he  does  not  venture  out  into  the  Mediterranean  with  his  boats. 
He  has  a  horror  of  the  sea,  and  to  go  into  that  impure  region  would 
be  a  religious  defilement.  On  land,  he  rides  in  a  seat  strapped  between 
two  asses.  He  has  never  heard  of  horses  or  chariots,  nor  will  they 
appear  in  Egypt  for  a  thousand  years  to  come.  He  wears  a  white 
linen  robe,  a  gold  collar,  bracelets  and  anklets,  but  no  sandals.  For 
his  table  he  has  wheaten  or  barley  bread,  beef,  game,  fruits  and 
vegetables,  beer,  w^ine  and  milk.  His  scribes  keep  careful  record  of 
his  flocks  and  herds,  his  tame  antelopes,  storks  and  geese,  writing 
with  a  reed  pen  on  a  papyrus  scroll.  He  has  his  tomb  cut  in  the  rocks 
near  the  royal  pyramid,  where  he  sometimes  goes  to  oversee  the 
sculptors  and  painters  who  are  ornamenting  its  walls  with  pictures  of 
his  dignities,  his  riches,  his  pleasures  and  manner  of  life.  He  docs 
not  forget  to  commemorate  the  fidelity  of  his  beloved  wife,  whom  he 
has  painted  opposite  himself  with  her  right  hand  placed  over  her 
heart,  as  they  stand  before  a  table  spread  with  viands  for  the  dead. 
Besides  the  one  or  two  chambers  thus  fashionably  beautified,  there  is 
a  deep  pit  which  stretches  down  perhaps  for  seventy  feet.     Here,  in 

*  '•  The  whole  expense  of  a  child  from  infancy  to  manhood,"  says  Diodorus,  "  is 
not  more  than  twenty  drachmae"  (about  four  dollars), 

+  Such  a  household  must  have  been  a  center  of  practical  education  ;  and  an  enter- 
prising Egyptian  boy,  dearly  as  he  loved  his  games  of  ball  and  wrestling,  was  likely 
to  be  well-versed  in  the  processes  of  every  trade,    (See  Brief  Hist.  France^  p.  33.) 


THE    MAKKERS    AND     CUSTOMS.  39 

recesses  cut  in  the  sides  and  bottom  *  will  finally  be  placed  the  mum- 
mies of  this  lord  and  his  family.  Meantime,  he  strives  to  be  true  to 
his  gods,  obedient  to  his  king-,  and  affectionate  to  his  household  ;  for 
thus  he  hopes  to  pass  the  rigid  ordeals  which  follow  death,  and  to  rest 
at  last  in  the  Boat  of  the  Sun. 

Scene  llI.—Ame7iem/i€  III.,  the  Lahyrinth.  and  Lake  Mo&ris  (Xllth 
dynasty,  about  B.C.  2080-1900). — Over  four  centuries  have  passed  since 
Khufu's  Pyramid  was  finished,  and  now  toward  the  southwest,  on  an 
oasis  in  the  midst  of  the  desert,  we  see  rising  a  magnificent  group  of 
twenty-seven  palaces,  one  for  each  Egyptian  nome.  In  the  center  of 
this  complicated  structure  is  an  immense  square  or  rectangle,  and  here 
are  twelve  roofed  courts,  with  gates  exactly  opposite  one  another,  six 
looking  north  and  six  south.  Every  court  is  surrounded  by  a  colon- 
nade built  of  white  stones  exquisitely  fitted  together.  There  are  three 
thousand  chambers,  large  and  small,  in  this  great  palace,  besides  a 
very  wilderness  of  elaborately-constructed  passages  and  winding  paths, 
courts  and  colonnades.  The  roof  is  of  stone  like  the  walls,  which  are 
covered  with  carvings.  Half  of  the  chambers  are  underground,  and 
are  to  be  the  sepulchres  of  kings  and  of  the  sacred  crocodiles  attached 
to  the  temple  of  Sebak,  the  crocodile  god.  This  marvellous  labyrinth, 
where  one  "passes  from  courts  into  chambers,  and  from  chambers 
into  colonnades,  from  colonnades  into  fresh  houses  and  from  these  into 
courts  unseen  before,"  is  surrounded  by  a  single  wall  and  encloses 
three  sides  of  the  large,  twelve-courted  rectangle.  On  the  fourth  side 
stands  a  pyramid,  engraven  with  large  hieroglypliics,  and  entered  by 
a  subterranean  passage.  Amenemhe  Hid  does  not  leave  his  identity 
as  the  founder  of  this  grand  palace  tomb  to  the  chance  scrawls  of  a 
quarry  workman,  as  did  Khufu  with  his  pyramid,  but  has  his  car- 
touch  properly  inscribed  on  the  building-stones. 

Lake  Mceris. — There  have  been  some  grievous  famines  f  in  Egypt 
produced  by  the  variable  inundations  of  the  Nile,  and  Amenemhe 

*  "Whose  graves  are  set  in  the  sides  of  the  ipiL''''—Ezekiel  xxxii.  23. 

t  "All  Egypt  is  the  gift  of  the  Nile,"  wrote  Herodotus.  The  river,  however,  was 
cot  left  to  overflow  its  banks  without  restrictions.  The  whole  country  was  more  or 
less  intersected  with  canals  and  protected  by  dykes,  Menes  himself,  according  to 
Herodotus,  having  constructed  a  dyke  and  turned  aside  the  course  of  the  Nile  in 
order  to  found  Memphis.  The  rise  of  the  river  was  closely  watched,  and  was 
measured  by  "Nilometers"  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  The  proper  moment 
for  cutting  away  the  dams  and  opening  the  canals  was  awaited  with  anxiety  and 
decided  by  auspicious  omens.  "  A  rise  of  fourteen  cubits  caused  joy,  fifteen  security, 
sixteen  delight."  Twelve  cubits  foretold  a  famine.  An  excessive  Nile  was  as  dis- 
astrous as  a  deficient  one.  A  "  Good  Nile  "  brought  harvests  so  abundant  a^  to  make 
Egyptian  storehouses  the  granary  of  the  eastern  world.  It  is  supposed  that  the  visit 
of  Abram  and  Sarai  to  Egyi)t,  caused  by  a  famine  in  Canaan,  occurred  during  the 
reign  of  the  Xlth  dynasty. 


40 


EGYPT. 


causes  to  be  constructed  not  far  from  the  Labyrinthine  Palace  a  gigan 
tic  lake,  with  one  canal  leading  to  the  great  river,  and  another  ter- 
minating in  a  natural  lake  still  further  to  the  west. 
He  thus  diverts  the  waters  of  an  excessive  Nile,  and 
hoards  those  of  a  deficient  one  to  be  used  at  need  on 
the  neighboring  lands.  He  stocks  this  lake  with  fish, 
and  so  provides  for  the  future  queens  of  Egypt  an 
annual  revenue  of  over  $200,000  for  pin  money.  The 
banks  of  Lake  Mceris  are  adorned  with  orchards,  vine- 
yards and  gardens,  won  by  its  waters  from  the  sur- 
rounding desert.  Toward  the  center  of  the  lake,  rising 
three. hundred  feet  above  its  surface,  stand  two  pyra- 
mids, and  on  the  apex  of  each  sits  a  majestic  stone 
figure.  But  pyramid  building  is  going  out  of  style  in 
Egypt,  and  the  fashion  of  obelisks  has  come  in.  These 
are  made  of  single  blocks  of  beautiful  red  granite  from 
Syene,  and  are  covered  with  delicately-carved  hiero- 
glyphs. Memphis  is  losing  her  precedence.  Thebes 
is  shining  in  her  first  glory,  and  the  Temple  of  Kar- 
nak,  which  is  to  become  the  most  splendid  of  all  times 
and  countries,  has  been  commenced ;  while,  down  the 
river,  at  Beni  Hassan,*  the  favorite  princes  have  built 
tombs  which,  like  cheerful  homes,  spread  their  pillared 
porches  in  the  eastern  rocky  heights. 

Scene  IV,— ^  lliehan  Dinner  Party  (time  of 
1311-1245  B.C.).— The  Labyrinth  has  stood  for  nearly 
seven  centuries.  During  this  time  the  Shepherd  kings  have  had  their 
sway  and  been  expelled.    The  XVIHth  dynasty,  including  the  long  and 


Kameses  IL 


*  The  tombs  of  Beni  Hassan  in  Middle  Egypt  are  remarkable  for  their  archi- 
tecture, the  prototype  of  the  Grecian  Doric  (p.  182).  They  are  also  noticeable  for 
being  east  of  the  Nile— the  other  Egyptian  tombs,  with  hardly  an  exception,  being 
located  in  the  west,  toward  the  setting  sun— and  for  not  being  concealed,  as  was  the 
custom.  A  recent  visitor  to  these  tombs  writes  :  ''Having  ascended  the  broad  road 
which  leads  gradually  up  to  the  entrances,  we  found  ourselves  on  a  sort  of  platform 
cut  in  the  cliff  nearly  half  way  to  the  top,  and  saw  before  us  about  thirty  high  and 
wide  doorways,  each  leading  into  one  chamber  or  more,  excavated  in  the  solid  rock. 
The  first  we  entered  was  a  large  square  room,  with  an  open  pit  at  one  end— the 
mummy  pit ;  and  every  inch  of  the  walls  was  covered  with  pictures.  Coming  into 
this  tomb  was  like  getting  hold  of  a  very  old  picture-book,  which  said  in  the  begin- 
ning, '  Open  me  and  I  will  tell  you  what  people  did  a  long  time  ago.'  Every  group 
of  figures  told  a  separate  story,  and  one  could  pass  on  from  group  to  group  till  a 
whole  life  was  unfolded.  Whenever  we  could  find  a  spot  vvhere  the  painted  plaster 
had  not  bjeeu  blackened  or  roughened,  we  were  surprised  at  the  variety  of  the  colors 
—delicate  lilacs  and  vivid  crimsons  and  many  shades  of  green."  Were  it  not  for 
these  pictures  on  the  walls  of  the  tombs  we  should  never  have  learned  the  secrets 
of  those  homes  along  the  Nile  where  people  lived,  loved,  and  died  four  thousand 
years  ago. 


THE     MAKKERS     AKD     CUSTOMS.  4l 

brilliant  reign  of  Thotlimes  III.,  has  passed  away,  leaving  behind  it 
temples,  obelisks  and  tombs  of  marvelous  magnificence.  Thebes  is  at 
the  height  of  that  architectural  triumph  which  is  to  make  her  the  won- 
der of  succeeding  ages.  Meantime,  what  of  the  people  ?  Let  us  invite 
ourselves  to  a  dinner-party  in  Theban  high-life.  The  time  is  midday, 
and  the  guests  are  arriving  on  foot,  in  palanquins  borne  by  servant^, 
and  in  chariots.  A  high  wall,  painted  in  panels,  surrounds  the  fashion- 
able villa,  and  on  an  obelisk  near  by  is  inscribed  the  name  of  the  owner. 
We  enter  the  grounds  by  a  folding-gate  flanked  with  lofty  towers. 
At  the  end  of  a  broad  avenue  bordered  by  rows  of  trees  and  spacious 
water-tanks  stands  a  stuccoed  brick  *  mansion,  over  the  door  of  which 
we  read  in  hieroglyphics,  "  The  Good  House."  The  building  is  made 
airy  by  corridors,  and  columns,  and  open  courts  shaded  by  awnings, 
all  gaily  painted  and  ornamented  with  banners.  Its  extensive  grounds 
include  flower-gardens,  vineyards,  date-orchards  and  sycamore  groves. 
There  are  little  summer  houses,  and  artificial  ponds  from  which  rises 
the  sweet,  sleepy  perfume  of  the  lotus-blossom  ;  here  the  genial  host 
sometimes  amuses  his  guests  by  an  excursion^n  a  pleasure-boat  towed 
by  his  servants.  The  stables  and  chariot-houses  are  in  the  center  of 
the  mansion,  but  the  cattle-sheds  and  granaries  are  detached. 

We  will  accompany  the  guest  whose  chariot  has  just  halted.  The 
Egyptian  grandee  drives  his  own  horse,  but  is  attended  by  a  train  of 
servants  ;  one  of  these  runs  forward  to  knock  at  the  door,  another  takes 
the  reins,  another  presents  a  stool  to  assist  his  master  to  alight,  and 
others  follow  with  various  articles  which  he  may  desire  during  the 
visit.  As  the  guest  steps  into  the  court,  a  servant  receives  his  sandals 
and  brings  a  foot-pan  that  he  may  wash  his  feet.  He  is  then  invited 
into  the  festive  chamber,  where  side  by  side  on  a  double  chair,  to  which 
their  favorite  monkey  is  tied,  sit  his  placid  host  and  hostess,  blandly 
smelling  their  lotus-flowers  and  beaming  a  welcome  to  each  arrival. 
They  are  dressed  like  their  guests.  On  his  shaven  head  the  Egyptian 
gentleman  wears  a  wig  with  little  top-curls,  and  long  cues  which  hang 
behind.  His  beard  is  short — a  long  one  is  only  for  the  king.  His 
large-sleeved,  fluted  robe  is  of  fine  white  linen,  and  he  is  adorned  with 
necklace,  bracelets,  and  a  multitude  of  finger-rings.  The  lady  by  his 
side  wears  also  a  linen  robe  over  one  of  richly -colored  stuff.  Her  hair 
falls  to  her  shoulders  front  and  back,  in  scores  of  crisp  and  glossy 
braids.  The  brilliancy  of  her  eyes  is  heightened  by  antimony  ;  and 
amulet  beetles,!  dragons,  asps  and  strange  symbolic  eyes  dangle  from 

*  The  bricks  were  made  of  Nile  mud  mixed  with  chopped  straw  and  dried  in 
the  sun. 

t  The  beetle  was  a  favorite  emblem  for  ornaments.  No  less  than  180  kinds 
of  scarabsei  are  preserved  in  the  Turin  Museum  alone.  It  was  also  engraved  on  the 
precious  stones  used  as  currency  between  Egypt  and  neighboring  countries.. 


42  EGYPT.  . 

her  golden  earrings,  necklace,  bracelets  and  anklets.  Having  saluted 
his  entertainers,  the  new-comer  is  seated  on  a  low  stool,  where  a  ser- 
vant anoints  his  bewigged  head  with  sweet-scented  ointment,  hands 
him  a  lotus-blossom,  hangs  garlands  of  flowers  on  his  neck  and  head, 
and  presents  him  with  wine.  The  servant,  as  he  receives  back  the 
emptied  vase  and  offers  a  napkin,  politely  remarks,  "May  it  benefit 
you."     This  completes  the  formal  reception. 

Each  lady  is  attended  in  the  same  manner  by  a  female  slave.  While 
the  guests  are  arriving,  the  musicians  and  dancers  belonging  to  the 
household  amuse  the  company,  who  sit  on  chairs  in  rows  and  chat,  the 
ladies  commenting  on  each  others'  jewelry,  and,  in  compliment,  ex 
changing  lotus-flowers.  The  house  is  furnished  with  couches,  arm- 
chairs, ottomans  and  footstools  made  of  the  native  acacia  or  of  ebony 
and  other  rare  imported  woods,  inlaid  with  ivory,  carved  in  animal 
forms,  and  cushioned  or  covered  with  leopard  skins.  The  ceilings  are 
stuccoed  and  painted,  and  the  panels  of  the  walls  adorned  with  colored 
designs.  The  tables  are  of  various  sizes  and  fanciful  patterns.  The 
floor  is  covered  with  a  palm-leaf  matting  or  wool  carpet.  In  the  bed- 
rooms are  high  couches  reached  by  steps  ;  the  pillows  are  made  of  wood 
or  alabaster  (see  cut,  p.  29).  There  are  many  elegant  toilet  conveniences, 
such  as  polished  bronze  mirrors,  fancy  bottles  for  the  kohl  with  which 
the  ladies  stain  their  brows  and  eyelids,  alabaster  vases  for  sweet- 
scented  ointments,  and  trinket-boxes  shaped  like  a  goose,  a  fish,  or  a 
human  dwarf.  Everywhere  throughout  the  house  is  a  profusion  of 
flowers,  hanging  in  festoons,  clustered  on  stands,  and  crowning  the 
wine-bowl.  Not  only  the  guests  but  the  attendants  are  wreathed,  and 
fresh  blossoms  are  constantly  brought  in  from  the  garden  to  replace 
those  which  are  fading. 

And  now  the  ox,  kid,  geese  and  ducks  which,  according  to  custom, 
have  been  hurried  into  the  cooking-caldrons  as  soon  as  killed,  are 
ready  to  be  served.  After  band-washing  and  saying  of  grace,  the 
guests  are  seated  on  stools,  chairs,  or  the  floor,  one  or  two  at  each 
little  low,  round  table.  The  dishes,  many  of  which  are  vegetables, 
are  brought  on  in  courses,  and  the  guests,  having  neither  knife  nor 
fork,  help  themselves  with  their  fingers.  Meantime,  a  special  corps 
of  servants  keep  the  wine  and  water  cool  by  vigorously  fanning  the 
porous  jars  which  contain  them.  During  the  repast,  when  the  enjoy- 
ment is  at  its  height,  the  Osiris — an  image  like  a  human  mummy — is 
brought  in  and  formally  introduced  to  each  visitor  with  the  reminder 
that  life  is  short,  and  all  must  die.  This  little  episode  does  not  in  the 
least  disturb  the  placidity  of  the  happy  guests.  There  is  one,  how- 
ever, to  whom  the  injunction  is  not  given,  and  who,  though  anointed 
and  garlanded  and  duly  installed  at  a  table,  does  not  partake  of  the 
delicacies  set  before  him.     This  is  a  real  mummy,  a  dear  deceased 


SUMMARY.  43 

member  of  the  family,  whom  the  host  is  keeping  some  months  before 
burial,  being  loth  to  part  with  him.  It  is  in  his  honor,  indeed,  that 
the  relatives  and  friends  are  assembled,  and  the  presence  of  a  beloved 
mummy,  whose  soul  is  journeying  toward  the  Pools  of  Peace,  is  the 
culminating  pleasure  of  an  Egyptian  dinner-party. 


4.    SUMMARY. 

1.  Political  History. — Our  earliest  glimpse  of  Egypt  is  of  a 
country  already  civilized.  Menes,  the  first  of  the  Pharaohs,  changed 
the  course  of  the  Nile  and  founded  Memphis.  His  successor  was  a 
physician  and  wrote  books  on  anatomy.  Kliufu,  Shafra,and  Menkara 
of  the  IVth  dynasty,  built  the  three  Great  Pyramids  at  Gizeh.  In  their 
time  there  were  already  an  organized  civil  and  military  service  and  an 
established  religion.  From  the  Vlth  to  the  Xlth  dynasty  the  monu- 
ments are  few  and  history  is  silent.  Thebes  then  became  the  center 
of  power.  The  Xllth  dynasty  produced  Lake  Moeris  and  the  Laby- 
rinth, and  waged  war  against  the  Ethiopians.  Meanwhile  the  Hyksos 
invaded  Lower  Egypt  and  soon  conquered  the  land.  At  last  a  Theban 
monarch  drove  out  the  barbarian  strangers.  The  XVIIIth  and  XlXth 
dynasties  raised  Egypt  to  the  height  of  her  glory.  Thothmes,  Amunoph, 
Seti,  and,  chief  of  all,  Rameses  II.,  covered  the  land  with  magnificent 
works  of  art,  and  carried  the  Egyptian  arms  in  triumph  to  the  depths 
of  Asia.  After  the  XXth  dynasty  Egypt  began  to  decline.  Her  weak 
kings  fell  in  turn  before  the  Ethiopians,  the  Assyrians,  and,  finally, 
the  Persians.  The  illustrious  line  of  the  Pharaohs  was  at  length  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  Empire  of  Persia  (see  note,  p.  46). 

2.  General  Character  of  Egyptian  Civilization.— In  sum- 
ming up  our  general  impressions  of  Egypt,  we  recall  as  characteristic 
features,  her  Pyramids,  Obelisks,  Sphinxes,  Gigantic  Stone  Statues, 
Hieroglyphics,  Sacred  Animals  and  Mummies,  We  think  of  her  wor- 
shipped kings,  her  all-powerful  priests,  and  her  Nile-watered  land 
divided  between  king,  priests,  and  soldiers.  We  remember  that  in  her 
fondness  for  inscriptions,  she  overspread  the  walls  of  her  palaces  and 
the  pillars  of  her  temples  with  hieroglyphics,  and  erected  monuments 
for  seemingly  no  other  purpose  than  to  cover  them  with  writing.  We 
see  her  tombs  cut  in  the  solid  rock  of  the  hillside  and  carefully  con- 
cealed from  view,  bearing  on  their  inner  walls  painted  pictures  of 
home  life.  Her  nobility  are  surrounded  by  refinement  and  luxuries 
which  we  are  startled  to  find  existing  4000  years  ago  ;  and  her  com- 
mon people  crowd  a  land  where  food  is  abundant,  clothing  little 
needed,  and  the  sky  a  sufficient  shelter. 

We  have  found  her  architecture  of  the  true  Hamite  type,  colossal. 


44  EGYPT. 

massive  and  enduring ;  her  art  stiff,  constrained  and  lifeless ;  her 
priest-taught  schools  giving  special  attention  to  writing  and  mathe- 
matics ;  her  literature  chiefly  religious,  written  on  papyrus-scrolls, 
and  collected  in  libraries  ;  her  arts  and  inventions  numerous,  including 
weaving,  dyeing,  mining  and  working  precious  metals,  making  glass 
and  porcelain,  enameling,  engraving,  tanning  and  embossing  leather, 
working  with  potter's  clay,  and  embalming  the  dead.  Seeing  her 
long  valley  inundated  each  year  by  the  Nile,  she  made  herself  pro- 
ficient in  mathematics  and  mensuration,  erected  dykes,  established 
Nilometers,  appointed  public  commissioners,  and  made  a  god  of  the 
river  which,  since  it  seldom  rains  in  Egypt,  gives  the  land  its  only 
fertility.  Her  relij?ion,  having  many  gods  growing  out  of  one, 
taught  a  judgment  after  death,  with  immortality  and  transmigration 
of  soul ;  its  characteristic  form  was  a  ceremonial  worship  of  animals  as 
emblems  or  incarnations  of  Deity.  Finally,  as  a  people,  the  Egyp- 
tians were  in  disposition  mild,  unwarlike,  superstitiously  religious  , 
in  habits  cleanly,  luxurious,  and  delighting  in  flowers ;  in  mind  sub- 
tle, acute,  self-poised ;  in  social  life  talkative,  given  to  festivals,  and 
loud  in  demonstrations  of  grief;  having  a  high  conception  of  morals, 
a  respect  for  woman,  a  love  of  literature,  and  a  domestic  affection 
which  extended  to  a  peculiar  fondling  of  their  mummied  dead. 

READING    REFERENCES. 

BrugsdCs  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs.— BvnserC s  Egypt's  Place  in  the  Worlcfs 
History.— Birch's  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,  and  Egypt  from  the  Monuments.— 
Wilkinson's  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians.— Herodotus,  Rawlin- 
son's  Translation  with  Notes.— Rawlinson's  Origin  of  Nations,  and  Manual  of 
Ancient  History. — Lenormant  and  CJievallier's  Ancient  History  of  the  East. — 
Buruy,  Histoire  Ancienne.— Records  of  the  Past  (5  vols,  of  Egyptian  Texts,  Transla- 
tions of  Inscriptions,  etc ).— Handy  Book  of  the  British  Museum. — Egypt  over  3300  . 
Years  Ago  {Illustrated  Library  of  Wonders).— Keary's  The  Dawn  of  History.— 
Lilbke's  History  of  Art.—  Westropp's  Handbook  of  Archceology. — Fergusson's  History 
of  Architecture.— Early  Egyptian  History  fw  the  Young  {Macmillan,  London).— 
Zerffi's  Historical  Development  of  Art.— George  Ebers's  An  Egyptian  Princess.^  The 
Sisters,  and  Uar da  {valuable  historicai  romances).— Rule's  Oriental  Records. 


CHRONOLOGY. 

B.C. 

Menes  founded  Memphis  about 2700 

Old  Empire 2700-2080 

Hyksos  invaded  Lower  Egypt,  about 2080 

Middle  Empire 2080-1525 

Hyksos  Rule,  about 1900-1525 

New  Empire 1525-  527 

Persian  Conquest 527 


^v    g  Tubal   ^     „. 

j_^^^&. «       Ij.'^  .  Ararat 

P^^J           ppfADOCiA                *--  '^'     e     N     1,A 
_^  O  f^  "^      '^      ^ 


NINEVEH  \fi/Jt 

Hesewf 

lamafh        '*^' 

•Tiianior  ^"^s 

A.  (Palmyra; 
umascus 


f  r  °^ 


^         -^       ASSYRIAN       ^  ^ 


EMPIRE 

700  B.C. 


RUbbtLL  &  STKUThERS,  tNQ'b  N.Y. 


BABYLONIA    AND    ASSYRIA, 


1.    THE    POLITICAL    HISTORY. 

The  Origin  of  the  first  nations  which  flourished  in  the 
valley  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  may  have  been  as  ancient 
as  the  Egyptian  civilization  ;  but  the  historic  records  reveal 
nothing  back  of  the  24th  century. 

1.  Chaldea. — Amid  a  mixed  population  of  Accadians — 
Hamites  of  the  race  of  Gush  (Gen.  x.) — Turanians,  Semites 
and  others  inhabiting  the  vast  plain  at  the  head  of  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  there  arose  a  mighty  hunter  named  Nimrod.  He 
organized  the  separate  tribes  under  a  single  strong  govern- 
ment, and  founded  Babylon  about  2300  B.C.  Afterward, 
perhaps  to  escape  the  Cushite  rule,  many  of  the  Semitic 

Geor/raphical  Qtiesfiofis.—'LocdLtQ  Nineveh,  Babylon,  Tadmor,  Damascus. 
Where  were  the  four  cities  founded  by  Nimrod — Babylon,  Erech  or  OrchOe,  Accad 
and  Calneh  ('  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  ")  ?  What  was  the  direct  distance  from  Memphis  or 
Thebes  to  Babylon  ?  Describe  the  Euphrates  river.  The  Tigi-is.  State  the  location 
of  Mesopotamia,  Chaldea,  Babylonia,  Assyria  and  Susiana.  Ans.  Mesopotamia 
(between  the  rivers)  comprised  the  gi-eat  rolling  plain  lying  between  the  Jluphrates 
and  the  Tigris  ;  Babylonia,  or  Lower  Mesopotamia,  included  the  rich  alluvial  plain 
south  of  Assyria,  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Arabian  desert  and  on  the  south 
by  the  Persian  Gulf ;  Chaldea  was  the  southern  portion  of  Babylonia ;  Susiana  lay 
southeast  of  Assyria  and  east  of  Babylonia.  Describe  the  geographical  appearance 
of  Babylonia.  Ans.  This  country  did  not,  like  Egypt,  consist  of  a  long,  narrow 
valley  shut  in  by  hills,  but  of  a  vast,  monotonous  plain.  This  was  the  gift  of  the 
Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  and  these  rivers  were  the  characteristic  feature  of  the 
landscape.  The  soil  was  an  alluvium  deposited  by  the  streams  in  the  shallow  waters 
of  the  gulf,  forming  a  tract  of  marvellous  fertility.  Wheat  was  native  to  the  soil  and 
grew  BO  luxuriantly  that  its  blade  was  the  width  of  the  palm,  and  to  make  the  plant 
ear,  the  inhabitants  were  accustomed  to  mow  it  twice  and  then  feed  it  off  with 
cattle. 


48  BABYLONIA     Al^B     ASSYRIA.         [1130  B.C. 

foreign  cattle  and  vegetable  prpducts,  and  constructed  canals. 
He  multiplied  the  war-chariots,  and  carried  the  Assyrian 
arms  to  the  Persian  mountains  on  the  east  and  northern 
Syria  on  the  west ;  *  but  he  was  defeated  by  the  Babylonians, 
who  bore  off  his  idols  to  their  capital,  where  they  were  kept 
for  four  hundred  years.  AssJnir-izir-pal  (Sardanapalus  I., 
886-858),  a  cruel  but  magnificent  king,  made  many  con- 
quests, but  is  to  be  chiefly  remembered  in  connection  with 
the  arts,  which  he  raised  to  a  point  never  before  attained. 
He  lined  his  palace  walls  (Nimroud)  with  great  alabaster 
slabs,  whereon  were  sculptured  in  spirited  bas-relief  the 
various  glories  he  had  achieved.  He  was  a  hunter  as  well  as 
a  warrior  and  an  art-patron,  and  kept  a  royal  menagerie, 
where  he  gathered  all  the  wild  beasts  he  could  procure  from 
his  own  and  foreign  lands. 

Slialmaneser  \  II.  was  contemporary  with  Ahab  and  Jehu, 
kings  of  Israel ;  he  personally  conducted  twenty-four  mili- 
tary campaigns.  Vul-lush  III.  (810-781)  married  Sam- 
muramit,  heiress  of  Babylon,  and  probably  the  original  of 

*  A  lengthy  document  written  by  Tiglalh-pileser,  narrating  some  events  of  his 
reign  has  been  discovered.  He  writes  :  "  The  country  of  Kasiyara,  a  difScult  region, 
I  passed  through.  With  their  20,000  men  and  their  five  kings  I  engaged.  I  defeated 
them.  The  ranks  of  their  warriors  in  fighting  the  battle  were  beaten  down  as  if  by 
the  tempest.  Their  carcasses  covered  the  valleys  and  the  tops  of  the  mountains.  I 
cut  off"  their  heads.  Of  the  battlements  of  their  cities  I  made  heaps,  like  mounds  of 
earth.  Their  movables,  their  wealth,  and  their  valuables  I  plundered  to  a  countless 
amount.  Six  thousand  of  their  common  soldiers  I  gave  to  my  men  as  slaves." 
Having  restored  two  ancient  temples,  he  invokes  the  support  of  the  gods,  and  adds : 
"  The  list  of  my  victories  and  the  catalogue  of  my  triumphs  over  foreigners  hostile 
to  Asshur  I  have  inscribed  on  my  tablets  and  cylinders.  Whoever  shall  abrade  or 
injure  my  tablets  and  cylinders,  or  shall  moisten  them  with  water,  or  scorch  them 
with  fire,  or  expose  them  to  the  air,  or  in  the  holy  place  of  God  shall  assign 
them  to  a  place  where  they  cannot  be  seen  or  understood,  or  shall  erase  the  writing 
and  inscribe  his  ovm  name,  or  shall  divide  the  sculptures  and  break  them  off  from 
my  tablets,  may  Anu  and  Vul,  the  great  gods,  my  lords,  consign  his  name  to  per- 
dition !  May  they  curse  him  with  an  irrevocable  curse  !  May  they  pluck  out  the 
stability  of  the  throne  of  his  empire  !  May  not  his  offspring  survive  him  !  May  his 
servants  be  broken  !  May  his  troops  be  defeated  I  May  his  name  and  his  race 
perish  I " 

t  In  connection  with  Shalmaneser  and  the  following  kings,  read  carefully  2  Kings, 
xv-xix  chapters. 


810  B.C.]  THEPOLITICAL     HISTORY.  49 

the  mythical  "Semiramis."  According  to  the  legend,  this 
queen  having  conquered  Egypt  and  part  of  Ethiopia,  invaded 
India  with  an  army  of  a  million  men,  but  was  beaten  back 
by  elephants ;  she  adorned  Babylon  with  wonderful  works, 
and  at  last  took  the  form  of  a  dove  and  flew  away.  Tiglath- 
pileser  11.  (745-727)  captured  Damascus  and  conquered 
Ahaz,  king  of  Judah.  Shalmaneser  IV.  (727-721)  laid  siege 
to  Samaria,  which  was  taken  by  his  successor,  Sargon  (721- 
705),  who  carried  oif  its  inhabitants  and  supplied  their  place 
with  captive  Babylonians. 

Sargon  founded  the  house  of  the  Sargonidae,  who  were  the 
most  brilliant  df  the  AssjTian  kings,  and  who  made  all  the 
neighboring  nations  feel  the  weight  of  their  conquering 
arms.  He,  himself,  so  subdued  the  Egyptians  that  they 
were  never  afterward  the  jDOwerful  nation  they  had  been  ; 
he  also  reduced  Syria,  Babylonia,  and  a  great  part  of  Media 
and  Susiana.  His  son,  the  proud,  haughty  and  self-confi- 
dent Sennacherib  (Sen-nak'-e-rib,  705-680),  captured  the 
"fenced  cities  of  Judah,"  but  afterward  lost  185,000  men, 
"  smitten  by  the  angel  of  the  Lord  "  in  a  single  night.  The 
sculptures  represent  him  as  standing  in  his  chariot  per- 
sonally directing  the  forced  labor  of  his  workmen,  who  were 
war-captives,  often  loaded  with  fetters.  EsarJiaddon,  Sar- 
gon's  grandson,  divided  Egypt  into  petty  states,  took  Ma- 
nasseh,  king  of  Judah,  prisoner  to  Babylon  (2  Chron,  xxxiii. 
11),  and  more  fully  settled  Samaria  with  colonists  from 
Babylonia,  Persia,  and  Susiana.  Asshur-iani-pal  (Sarda- 
napalus  II,  667-647),*  Sargon's  gi-eat-grandson,  was  a  famous 
warrior,  builder  and  art-patron.  He  erected  a  magnificent 
palace  at  Nineveh,    in  which  he  founded  a  royal  library. 

*  As  the  Greeks  confounded  several  Egyptian  monarchs  nnder  the  name  of 
Sesostris  the  Great,  eo  the  Assyrian  king  whom  they  called  Sardanapa^us  seems  to 
have  been  a  union  of  Asshurizirpal.  Asshurbanipal  and  Asshnremedilin.  The  Greek 
ideal  Sardanapalus  is  celebrated  in  Byron's  well-known  play  of  that  name. 


60     '  BABYLOKIA     AKD     ASSYRIA.  [625B.C. 

His  son,  Asshur-emed'ilin,  or  Saracus,  as  he  was  called  by 
some  Greek  writers  (p.  47),  was  the  last  Assyrian  king. 

3.  Later  Babylonian  Empire  {^'ib-bd^),—Nahopolasser, 
a  favorite  general  under  Saracus,  obtained  from  his  master 
the  government  of  Babylon.  Here  he  organized  a  revolt, 
and  made  an  alliance  with  Cyaxares,  king  of  the  Medes  ;  in 
625  B.C.,  their  combined  forces  captured  Nineveh.  The 
conquerors  divided  the  spoils  between  them,  and  to  Nabo- 


BABYLONIAN   WOMAN   AND    MEN   (fROM    THE   SCULPTURES). 

polasser  fell  Phoenicia,  Palestine,  Syria,  Susiana,  and  the 
Euphrates  valley.  Babylon,  after  the  ruin  of  its  rival, 
became  again  the  capital  of  the  East.  It  held  this  position 
for  nearly  a  century,  when  it  was  captured  by  Cyrus  the 
Great  (538  B.C.). 

The  Names  of  two  of  its  kings  are  familiar  to  every 
Bible  reader.  Nebuchadnezzar  (604-561),  the  son  of  Nabo- 
polasser,  gave  the  new  empire  its  character  and  position. 
Without  him  Babylon  would  have  had  little,  if  any,  history 
worth  recording.  A  great  warrior,  he  captured  Jerusalem,* 
overran  Egypt,  and,  after  a  thirteen-years  siege,  subdued 
Tyre.  A  great  builder,  he  restored  or  repaired  almost  every 
temple  and  city  in  the  country.  By  his  marvelous  energy 
Babylon  became  five  or  six  times  the  present  size  of  London ; 

•  "  Israel  is  a  scattered  sheep  :  first  the  king  of  Assyria  hath  devoured  him  ;  and 
last  this  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  hath  broken  his  bones."— «7<?remioA  1,  17. 


538b.C.]     -•  THE    CIVILIZATIOI^-.  '51 

and  its  walls*  and  hanging  gardens  (p.  58)  were  among  the 
Seven  Wonders  of  the  World  (Appendix).  Immense  lakes 
were  dug  for  retaining  the  water  of  the  Euphrates,  whence 
a  network  of  canals  distributed  it  over  the  plain  to  irrigate 
the  land ;  while  quays  and  breakwaters  were  constructed 
along  the  Persian  Gulf  for  the  encouragement  of  commerce.* 
Belshazzar  held  the  throne  jointly  with  his  father,  Nabona- 
dius,  the  last  king  of  Babylon.  Cyrus,  ruler  of  the  rising 
empire  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  inyaded  the  country, 
defeated  the  army  of  N'abonadius,  and  finally  besieged  Bel- 
shazzar in  Babylon.  One  night  when  the  Babylonians  were 
celebrating  a  festival  with  drunken  revelry,  Cyrus,  by  means 
of  canals  which  he  had  dug  for  this  purpose,  changed  the 
course  of  the  Euphrates,  which  ran  through  the  city.  The 
Persians  rushed  along  the  empty  bed  of  the  river,  seized  the 
unguarded  gates  and  captured  the  place.  From  that  time 
Babylon  was  a  province  of  the  Persian  Empire  and  its  glory 
faded.  To-day  the  site  is  marked  only  by  shapeless  mounds 
scattered  over  a  desolate  plain. 

2.    THE    CIVILIZATION. 

Society. — In  Assyria  there  were  no  castes  or  hereditary  aris- 
tocracy, as  m  Egypt,  but  all  subjects,  foreign  and  native,  had  equal 
privileges,  dependent  upon  the  one  absolute  royal  will. 

The  King^  though  not  worshipped  as  a  god,  was  considered  "  the 
earthly  vicegerent  of  the  gods,"  having  undisputed  authority  over 
the  souls  as  well  as  the  bodies  of  his  people. 

The  chief  courtiers  were  eunuchs,  who  directed  the  public  affairs, 
leaving  the  king  undisturbed  to  enjoy  his  sports  and  pleasures. 
They,  however,  held  their  offices  at  his  caprice,  and  were  liable 
at  any  moment  to  be  removed.     The  people  had  the  privilege  of 

*  Read  the  Scriptural  account  of  Babylon  and  its  king^  in  Daniel  ;  Isaiah,  chap- 
ters 10,  11,  13,  14,  21,  45,  46,  47,  and  es^pecially  19,  2.3  ;  Jeremiah,  chaps.  49,  50  and  51 ; 
2  Kings,  chaps.  24,  25  ;  Ezra,  chaps.  1-6. 


la 


63  BABYLONIA     ANl>     ASSYRIA. 

^  direct  petition  to  the  king  in  case  of  pjublic  wrong  or 

^Z  neglect.* 

In  Babylonia^  where  there  was  a  mixed  population, 
society  was  divided  into  castes,  of  which  the  highest, 
the  ancient  Chaldean,  was  not  unlike  that  of  the  Egyp- 

^^       2     ti^"  priesthood.     The  Chaldeans  read  the  warnings 

T^  ^      of  the  stars,  interpreted  dreams  and  omens,  gave  instruc- 
g  ^      tions  in  the  art  of  magic  and  incantation,  and  conducted 
x/'    I  §      the  pompous  religious  ceremonies.     They  also  decided 
s  I      politics,  commanded  the  armies,  and  held  the  chief  state 
•^     P  J      offices.    From  them  came  all  the  royal  rulers  of  Babylon. 
^~    M  .M  The  king  was  as  despotic  as  in  Assyria,  and  Baby- 

^  X  ^  Ionian  nobles  at  every  slight  offence  trefnbled  for  their 
fc-  5  ^  heads.  The  whole  Chaldean  caste  were  once  ordered  to 
44l  Q  I  be  exterminated  because  they  could  not  expound  the 
™    I  I     dream  of  a  king  which   he  himself  could  not  recall 

i  r^  (Daniel  ii.  12). 
Sy  »<  3  Merchants,  artisans  and  husbandmen  formed  each  a 
A  ^1  caste.  The  fishermen  of  the  marshes  near  the  Persian 
YY  I  I  Grulf  corresponded  to  the  swine-herds  in  Egypt,  as 
a1  "^  <  being  lowest  in  the  social  scale.  They  lived  on  earth- 
^►-  "  a  covered  rafts,  which  they  floated  among  the  reeds,  and 
*pp  °  *  subsisted  on  a  species  of  cake  made  of  dried  fish. 
aT     2  j:  "Wvitui^.  — Cuneiform  Letters  (cuneus,  a  wedge). — 

^  h  -M  Clay  Tablets. — The  earliest  form  of  this  writing,  in- 
►r  E  1  vented  by  the  Turanians,  was,  like  the  Egyptian,  a  col- 
►^  ^  lection  of  rude  pictures,  with  this  peculiarity,  that  they 
i*T-j-  were  all  straight-lined  and  angular  as  if  devised  to  be 

it^i^  cut  on  stone  with  a  chisel.     The  Chaldeans,  having  no 

stone  in  their  countiy,  made  of  the  clay  in  which  it 
abounded  tiny  pillow-shaped  tablets,  from  one  to  five 
inches  long.     Upon  these  soft,  moist  tablets  they  traced 


n 


*  A  tablet  in  the  British  Museum  thus  exposes  an  official  peculation  in  the  time 
of  Asshurbanipal :  "Salutation  to  the  king,  my  lord,  fi*om  his  humble  petitioner, 
Zikar  Nebo.  To  the  king,  my  lord,  may  Asshur,  Sharaash,  Bel,  Zarpanit,  Nebo, 
Tashmit,  Ishtar  of  Nineveh,  Ishtar  of  Arbela,  the  great  gods,  protectors  of  royalty, 
give  a  hundred  years  of  life  to  the  king,  my  lord,  and  slaves  and  wives  in  great 
number  to  the  king,  my  lord.  The  gold  that  in  the  month  Tashrit  the  minister  of 
state  and  the  controller  of  the  palace  should  have  given  me— three  talents  of  pure 
gold  and'  four  talents  of  alloyed  gold— to  make  an  image  of  the  king  and  of  the 
mother  of  the  king,  has  not  yet  been  given.  May  my  lord,  the  king,  give  orders 
to  the  minister  of  state  and  to  the  controller  of  the  palace,  to  give  the  gold,  to  give 
it  from  this  time,  and  do  it  exactly." 


THE     CIVILIZATION. 


63 


the  outline  of  the  original  object-picture,  in  a  series  of  distinct, 
wedge-like  impressions  made  by  the  square  or  triangular  point 
of  a  small  bronze  or  iron  tool.  As  in  Egypt,  the  attempt  to  pre- 
serve the  picture-outline  was  gradually  abandoned,  and  the  charac- 
ters, variously  modified  by  the  different- 
speaking  races  inhabiting  Assyria,  came 
to  have  a  variety  of  meanings.*  Cunei- 
form writing  has  been  found  even  more 
difficult  to  interpret  than  Egyptian 
hieroglyphics.  It  has  some  of  the  pe- 
culiarities of  that  writing,  but  has  no 
letter-signs ;  the  cuneiform-writing  na- 
tions never  advancing  so  far  as  to 
analyze  the  syllable  into  vowels  and 
consonants.  Nearly  three  hundred  dif- 
ferent characters  have  been  deciphered, 
and  a  large  number  remain  yet  un- 
known.f 

Other  Writing  Materials^  as  Alabas- 
ter Slabs,  Terra-cotia  Cylinders,  Cylin- 
der Signets,  etc. — The  Assyrian  clay- 
tablets  were  generally  larger  than  the 
Chaldean,  and  for  the  royal  records 
slabs    of    fine    stone    were    preferred.  Assyrian  clay  tablet. 


*  Generally  all  trace  of  the  original  picture  disappeared,  but  in  a  few  cases,  such  as 
the  outline  is  still  visible.    A  curious  example  of  the  picto- 


rial origin  of  the  letters  is 
furnished    by   the   character 


Vf^ 


which  is  the 


French  w/ie,  the  feminine  of  "  one."    Tliis  character  may  be  traced  back  through 
several  known  forms  to  an  original  picture  on  a  Koyunjik  tablet     3  P 

where  it  appears  as  a  double -toothed  comb.    As  this  was  a  toilet  aracie  pecujiar  lo 
women,  it  became  the  sign  of  the  feminine  gender. 

t  The  Behistun  Inscnption  furnished  the  key  to  Assyrian  literature  as  did  the 
Rosctta  stone  to  Egyptian.  This  inscription  was  carved  by  ordeu  of  Darius  Hys- 
tasp'es  (p.  SI)  on  the  precipitous  side  of  a  high  rock-mountain  in  Media,  300  feet 
above  its  base.  It  is  in  three  languages,  Persian,  Median,  and  Assyrian.  The  Per- 
sian, which  is  the  simplest  of  the  cuneiform  writings,  having  been  mastered,  it 
became,  like  the  Greek  on  the  Rosctta  Stone,  a  lexicon  to  the  other  two  languages. 
Honorably  connected  with  tiie  opening  up  of  the  Assyrian  language  in  the  present 
century,  are  the  names  of  Sir  Henry  Rsiwlinson,  who  at  great  personal  risk  scaled  the 
Behistun  mountain  and  made  a  copy  of  the  inscription  which  he  afterwards  pub- 
lished ;  and  M.  Oppert,  who  systematized  the  newly-discovered  language,  and  founded 
an  Assyrian  grammar  for  the  use  of  modem  scholars. 


54 


BABYLOKIA     AKD     ASSYRIA. 


These  slabs  were  used  as  panels  in  palace  walls,  where  they  set 
forth  the  glorious  acliievements  of  the  Assyrian  monarchs.  Even 
where  figures  were  sculptured  upon  the  panels,  the  royal  vanity 
was  not  deterred,  and  the  self-glorifying  narrations  were  carried 
uninterruptedly  across  mystic  baskets,  sacred  trees,  and  the  dresses 
of  worshipping  kings  and  eagle-headed  deities.  The  colossal 
alabaster  bulls  and  lions  which  guarded  the  palace 
portals  were  also  inscribed,  and  formal  invocations 
to  the  gods  were  written  on  hollow  terra-cotta 
cylinders,  from  eighteen  to  thirty-six  inches  high, 
which  w^ere  placed  in  the  temple  corners.  The 
lines  were  sometimes  more  closely  compacted 
than  those  in  this  paragraph,  and  the  characters 
so  fine  that  a  magnifying  glass  is  required  to  read 
them.  Little  cylinders  made  of  jasper,  chalcedony 
or  other  stone  were  engraved  and  used  as  seals  by 
rolling  them  across  the  clay  tablets.  There  is  no 
positive  proof  that  anything  like  paper  or  parch- 
ment was  ever  in  use  among  the  Assyrians,  though  the  ruins  furnish 
indirect  testimony  that  it  may  have  been  employed  in  rare  instances. 
Literature. — Libraries. — An  Assyrian  or  Babylonian  book  con- 
sisted of  several  flat,  square  clay-tablets  written  on  both  sides,  care- 
fully paged,  and  piled  one  upon  another  in  order.  Asshurbanipal, 
who  as  patron  of  arts  and  literature  was  to  Assyria  what  Rameses  II. 
had  been  to  Egypt  600  years  before,  established  an  extensive  public 
library  *  in  his  palace  at  Nineveh.  Many  of  the  books  were  copied 
from  borrowed  Babylonian  tablets,  but  a  large  number  were  evi- 
dently composed  under  his  royal  patronage.  He  gathered  works 
on  geography,  history,  law,  mathematics,  astronomy,  astrology, 
botany  and  zoology.  Complete  lists  of  plants,  trees,  metals  and 
minerals  were  prepared ;  also  a  catalogue  of  every  known  species  of 
animals,  classified  in  families  and  genera.  "  We  may  well  be  aston- 
ished," says  Lenormant,  "  to  learn  that  the  Assyrians  had  already 
Invented  a  scientific  nomenclature,  similar  in  principle  to  that  of 


A   TERRA-COTTA 
CYLINDER. 


*  "  Palace  of  Asshurbanipal,  king  of  the  world,  king  of  Assyria,  to  whom  the 
god  Nebo  and  the  goddess  Tashmit  (the  goddess  of  wisdom)  have  given  ears  to  hear 
and  eyes  to  see  what  is  the  foundation  of  government.  They  have  revealed  to  the 
kings,  my  predecessors,  this  cuneiform  writing,  the  manifestation  of  the  god  Nebo, 
the  god  of  supreme  intelligence.  I  have  written  it  upon  tablets,  I  have  signed  it,  I 
have  placed  it  in  my  palace  for  the  instruction  of  my  subjects." — (Inscription.)  One 
of  the  bricks  of  this  library  contains  a  notice  that  vi  iioi^s  are  requested  to  give  to  t?ie 
librarian  the  number  of  the  book  they  wish  to  consult,  and  it  will  be  brought  to  them. 


THE     CIVILIZATION.  55 

Linnseus."  Here,  also,  were  religious  books  explaining  the  name, 
functions,  and  attributes  of  each  god ;  magical  incantations  with 
which  to  charm  away  evil  spirits ;  and  sacred  poems,  resembling  in 
style  the  Psalms  of  David.  Among  the  records  copied  from  Baby- 
lonian tablets,  which  were  already  antiquities  in  the  time  of  Asshur- 
banipal,  were  the  Chaldean  accounts  of  the  Creation,  the  Fall  of 
Man,  and  the  Flood,  which  in  many  points  are  strikingly  like  the 
narrative  in  Genesis,  though  written  hundreds  of  years  before  Moses 
was  bora.  Most  numerous  of  all  were  the  various  gram.matical 
works.  The  Assyrians  found  their  own  language  so  complex,  that 
lexicons  and  grammars  were  multiplied  in  efforts  to  explain  and 
simplify  it ;  and  these  books,  written  to  aid  the  Assyrian  learner  over 
2500  years  ago,  have  been  found  invaluable  in  opening  the  long-lost 
language  to  the  student  of  to-day.  All  this  vast  collection  of  tablets, 
gathered  with  so  much  care  by  Asshurbanipal,  fell  with  the  palace 
in  the  self-destruction  of  his  son,  Saracus,  and  were  mostly  broken 
into  fragments.* 

Monuments  and  Art.— As  the  Chaldeans  had  no  stone,  they 
made  theiF  edifices  of  burnt  or  sun-dried  bricks,  strengthening  the 
walls  by  layers  of  reed  matting  cemented  with  bitumen.  Their  tem- 
ples were  built  in  stories,  each  one  smaller  in  area  than  the  one  below, 
tlius  forming  an  irregular  pyramid.  In  later  times  the  number  of 
stories  increased,  and  the  outer  walls  of  Babylonian  temples  were 
painted  in  colors  consecrated  to  the  heavenly  bodies.  That  of  Nebo 
at  Borsippa  t  had  its  lowest  stage  black  (Saturn) ;  the  next  orange 
(Jupiter);  then  red  (Mars),  gold  (the  sun),  yellow  .(Venus),  blue 
(Mercury),  and  silver  (the  moon).     The  gold  and  silver  "stages  seem 


*  "The  clay  tablets  lay  under  the  ruined  palace  in  such  multitudes  that  they 
filled  the  chambers  to  the  height  of  a  loot  or  more  from  the  floor.  The  documents 
thus  discovered  at  Nir.eveh  probably  exceed  in  amount  of  writing  all  that  has  yet 
been  afforded  by  the  monuments  of  Egypt."  {LayardCs  Nineveh).  To  Austen  Henry 
Layard,  an  En-rlish  Archaeologist,  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  the  wonderful  dis- 
coveries made  in  exploring  the  mounds  which  mark  the  site  of  Nineveh.  The  British 
Mnseum  has  a  magnificent  collection  of  Assyrian  antiquities  recovered  from  these 
mounds,  wh::;le  rooms  being  lined  with  the  alabaster  slabs  exhumed  from  the  ruins 
of  the  palaces  of  Asshurizirpal  at  Nimrond,  Sennacherib  and  his  grandson  Asshur- 
banipal at  Koyunjik,  and  Sargon  at  Khorsabad.  Most  of  the  remains  of  Sargon's 
palace,  however,  are  deposited  in  the  Louvre  at  Paris,  having  been  excavated  for  the 
French  government  by  M.  Botta,  who  has  the  honor  of  having  made  (in  1843)  the 
first  discovery  of  an  Assyrian  monument. 

t  Borsippa  was  a  town  near  Babylon.  Some  authorities  include  the  ruins  of  this 
temple,  now  called  the  Birs-i-Nimrud,  within  the  outer  wall  of  Babylon,  and  believe 
it  to  have  been  the  true  Temple  of  Belus  (p.  59),  if  not  the  actual  Tower  of  Babel. 
A.  mound  called  Babil,  near  the  Great  Palace,  is  the  other  disputed  site. 


56 


BABYLOKIA     AND     ASSYRIA. 


to  have  been  covered  with  thin  plates  of  those  metals.  Either  the 
sides  or  the  angles  of  these  structures  exactly  faced  the  cardinal 
points,  and  the  base  was  strengthened  by  brick  buttresses  scientifi- 
cally arranged.  The  royal  name  and  titles  were  engraved  upon  each 
building-brick. 


^ 

\ 

1^' 

$. 

.r'  ^, 


BABYLONIAN    BRICK. 


The  Assyrians  made  their  temples  simple  adjuncts  to  their  palaces, 
where  they  were  used  as  observatories.  Here  the  priestly  astrolo- 
gers consulted  the  stars,  and  no  enterprise  was  undertaken,  however 
it  might  otherwise  promise  success,  unless  the  heavens  were  declared 
favorable.  Following  the  example  of  their  Chaldean  instructors, 
the  Assyrians  continued  to  build  with  brick,  though  they  had  an 
abundance  of  excellent  stone.  Their  edifices,  placed,  like  those  in 
Chaldea,  upon  high  artificial  mounds  of  earth,  were  encased  with 
bricks  used  while  still  soft,  so  that  they  adhered  to  one  another 
without  cement,  and  formed  a  single,  compact  mass.  As  their 
palaces  were  constructed  of  this  same  weak  material,  which  was 
liable  to  disintegrate  within  twenty  or  thirty  years,  they  were  obliged 
to  make  the  walls  enormously  thick,  the  halls  narrow  and  low  as 
compared  with  their  length,  and  to  limit  the  height  to  one  story. 
The  roof  Avas  loaded  with  earth  as  a  protecticAi  from  the  fierce  sum- 
mer sun  and  the  heavy  winter  rains.  Their  building-plan  was 
always  the  same.  Around  immense  square  courts  were  arranged 
halls  or  chambers  of  different  sizes  opening  into  one  another.  These 
halls,  though  never  more  than  40  feet  wide,  were  sometimes  180  feet 


THE     ClYlL12ATI0]Sf . 


67 


in  length.  The  sides  were  lined  with  alabaster  slabs,  from  eight  to 
fifteen  feet  high,  covered  with  elaborate  sculptures  illustrating  the 
sports,  prowess,  and  religious  devotion  of  the  king;  above  these 
were  enameled  bricks.  The 
court-yards  were  paved 
with  chiseled  stone  or 
painted  bricks,  and  the 
beams  of  Lebanon  cedar 
were  sometimes  overlaid 
with  silver  or  gold.  The 
courts  themselves  were  or- 
namented by  gigantic  sculp- 
tures, and  the  artificial 
mound  was  edged  by  a  ter- 
raced wall.  Sennacherib's 
palace  at  Koyunjik  was 
only  second  in  size  and 
g^'andeur  to  the  palace-tem- 
ple at  Karnak.  The  ruling 
idea  in  Assyrian  architec- 
ture, however,  was  not,  as  in 
the  Egyptian,  that  of  mag- 
nitude, much  less  of  dura- 
bility, but  rather  of  close 
and  finished  ornamenta- 
tion; the  bas-reliefs  being 
wrought  out  with  a  minute- 
ness of  detail  which  ex- 
tended to  the  flowers  and 
rosettes  on  a  king's  gar- 
ment or  the  intricate  pat- 
tern of  his  carved  footstool. 
But  Assyrian  alabaster  was 
far  easier  to  manage  than 
Egyptian  granite,  and  where 
masses  of  hard  stone  like 
basalt  were  used,  to  which 

the  Egyptians  would  give  the  finish  of  a  cameo,  the  Assyrians  pro- 
duced only  coarse  and  awkward  effects.  A  few  stone  obelisks  have 
been  found — one  only,  the  Black  Obelisk  of  Nimroud,  being  in  per- 
fect preservation.     In  statuary,  the  Assyrians  signally  failed,  and  in 


BLACK   OBELISK   FROM   NIMROUD. 


58  BABYLON^IA     AKD     ASSYRIA. 

drawing  they  had  no  better  idea  of  perspective  than  the  Egyptians. 
In  their  water-scenes  the  fishes  are  as  large  as  the  ships,  and  the 
birds  in  the  woods  are  half  as  tall  as  the  men  who  hunt  them. 
They  excelled  in  bas-relief,  in  which  they  profusely  detailed  their 
religious  ideas,  home  life,  royal  greatness  and  mechanical  achieve- 
ments. In  general,  as  compared. with  Egyptian  art,  the  Assyrian 
was  much  more  progressive,  and  had  greater  life,  fi'eedom,  variety 
and  taste. 

Walls,  Temple,  Palaces,  and  Ilanrjing  Gardens  of  Bahylon. — The 
wall  of  this  great  city  fonned  a  square,  each  side  of  which  was, 
according  to  Herodotus,  14  miles  long,  93  feet  thick,  and  373  feet 
high.*  Twenty-five  brass  gates  opened  from  each  of  the  four  sides 
upon  straight,  wide  streets,  which  extended  across  the  city,  dividing 
it  into  squares.  A  space  was  left  free  from  buildings  for  some  dis- 
tance next  the  walls ;  within  that,  beautiful  gardens,  orchards,  and 
fields  alternated  with  lofty  dwellings.  The  broad  Euphrates,  instead 
of  skirting  the  city  as  did  the  Tigris  at  Nineveh,  ran  midway  through 
the  town,  and  was  guarded  by  two  brick  walls  with  brass  gates 
opening  upon  steps  which  led  down  to  the  water.  The  river-banks 
were  lined  throughout  with  brick-and-bitumen  quays,  and  the 
stream  was  crossed  by  ferries,  and,  during  the  day,  by  a  succession 
of  drawbridges  resting  on  stone  piers. 

Either  side  of  the  Euphrates  rose  a  majestic  palace,  built  upon 
a  high  platfoi-m,  and  surrounded  by  triple  walls  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  apart.  The  outer  wall  of  the  larger  palace  was  nearly  seven 
miles  in  circumference.  The  inner  walls  were  faced  with  enameled 
brick,  representing  hunting  scenes  in  gayly-colored  figures  larger 
than  life.  The  glory  of  the  palace  was  its  Hanging  Gardens,  imi- 
tated from  those  in  Assyria,  and  built  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  please 
his  Median  queen,  who  i3iued  for  her  native  liills.  Tliey  consisted 
of  a  series  of  platforms  resting  on  arches,  and  rising  one  above  the 
other  till  the  summit  overtopped  the  city  walls.  The  soil  with 
which  they  were  covered  was  deep  enough  to  sustain  not  only 
flowers  and  shrubs,  but  the  largest  trees,  so  that  the  effect  was  that 
of  a  mountain  clothed  in  verdure.  The  structure  was  ascended  by 
broad  stairs,  and  on  the  several  terraces,  among  fountains,  groves, 
and  fragrant  shrubs,  were  stately  apartments,  in  whose  cool  shade 

*  Other  authorities  reduce  this  estimate,  making  the  circumference  of  the  wall 
about  forty  miles  and  its  height  less  than  a  hundred  feet.  In  Alexander's  time,  after 
the  wear  and  tear  of  centuries  and  the  violence  of  the  great  Persian  conquerors,  the 
wall  still  stood  over  seventy  feet  high. 


THE     CIVILIZATIOIS".  59 

the  queen  might  rest  while  making  the  tour  of  her  novel  pleasure- 
ground.  The  Temple  of  Belus  was  also  surrounded  by  a  wall  having 
brass  gates.  Witliin  the  sacred  enclosure,  but  outside  the  building, 
were  two  altars  for  sacrifice,  one  of  stone  and  one  of  gold.  At  the 
base  of  the  tower — which  was  a  huge,  solid  mass  of  brick-work — 
w^as  a  chapel  containing  a  sitting  image  of  Bel,  a  golden  stand  and 
table,  and  a  human  figure  eighteen  feet  high,  made  of  solid  gold. 
The  ascent  was  from  the  outside,  and  on  the  summit  was  the  sacred 
shrine,  containing  three  great  golden  images  of  Bel,  Beltis  and  Ishtar 
(p.  61).  There  were  also  two  golden  lions,  tw^o  enormous  silver 
serpents  and  a  golden  table  forty  feet  long  and  fifteen  broad,  besides 
drinking-cups,  censers,  and  a  golden  bowl  for  each  deity. 

Practical  Arts  and  Inventions. — Agriculture  was  carried 
to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in  both  countries,  and  the  system  of 
irrigation  was  so  complete  that  it  has  been  said  "  not  a  drop  of  water 
was  allowed  to  be  lost."  Their  brilliantly-dyed  and  icoven  duffs^ 
especially  the  Babylonian  carpets,  were  celebrated  throughout  the 
ancient  world ;  and  the  elaborate  designs  of  their  embroideries 
served  as  models  for  the  earliest  Grecian  vases.  In  metal  worh  they 
were  far  advanced,  and  they  must  have  possessed  the  art  of  casting 
vast  masses,  since  their  town  and  palace-gates  are  said  to  have  been 
of  bronze.  Where  great  strength  was  required,  as  in  the  legs  of 
tripods  and  tables,  the  bronze  was  cast  over  iron,  an  ingenious  art 
unknown  to  moderns  until  it  was  learned  and  imitated  from  Assyrian 
antiquities.  The  beams  and  furniture  of  palaces  were  often  cased 
with  bronze,  and  long  bronze  friezes  with  fantastic  figures  in  relief 
adorned  the  palace  halls.  Gold^  silver  and  hronze  vases,  beautifully 
chased,  were  important  articles  of  commerce,  as  was  also  the  Assyrian 
pottery,  which,  being  enameled  by  an  entirely  different  process  from 
that  of  Egypt,  and  having  a  finer  paste,  brighter  hue  and  thinner 
body,  was  largely  exported  to  the  latter  countiy  during  the  XVIIIth 
dynasty.  Mineral  tints  w^ere  used  for  coloring.  Assyrian  terra-cotta 
was  remarkably  fine  and  pure. 

Transparent  glass  was  in  use  in  the  time  of  Sargon.  A  rock- 
crystal  lens  has  been  found  at  Nimroud,  the  only  object  of  its  kind 
as  yet  discovered  among  the  remains  of  antiqiyty.  In  gem-cutting 
the  Assyrians  decidedly  excelled  the  Egyptians,  and  the  exceeding 
minuteness  of  some  work  on  seals  implies  the  use  of  powerful  mag- 
nifiers. 

Most  of  the  mechanical  powers  whereby  heavy  weights  have  com- 
monly been  moved  and  raised  among  civilized  nations  were  under 


60  BABYLONIA     AND     ASSYRIA. 

stood.*  The  Assyrians  imported  their  steel  and  iron  tools  from  the 
neighboring  provinces  of  the  Caucasus,  where  steel  had  long  been 
manufactured;  the  carved  ivories  which  ornamented  their  palaces 
probably  came  from  Phoenicia.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  all  the  com- 
mon arts  and  appliances  of  life  the  Assyrians  were  at  least  on  a  par 
with  the  Egyptians,  while  in  taste  they  greatly  excelled  not  only 
that  nation,  but  all  the  Orientals.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  how- 
ever, that  Egyptian  civilization  was  over  a  thousand  years  old  when 
Assyria  was  in  its  infancy. 


3.    THE    MANN:e3RS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

General  Character. — The  Assyrians  were  brave,  hardy,  aggres- 
sive, proud  and  haughty.  Isaiah  calls  them  a  "fierce  people,"  and 
Nahum  speaks  of  Nineveh  as  "  full  of  lies  and  robbery/'  from  which 
we  infer  that  they  were  violent  and  treacherous.  The  Babylonians, 
also,  were  characterized  as  "terrible  and  dreadful,  going  through  the 
breadth  of  the  land  to  possess  the  dwelling-places  that  are  not  theirs." 
Less  disciplined  than  the  Assyrians,  they  marched  with  great  tumult ; 
their  chariots  were  "like  the  whirlwind,"  and  "their  horses  swifter 
than  the  leopards  and  more  fierce  than  the  evening  wolves."  Though 
so  "bitter  and  hasty"  in  march,  they  were  patient  and  persistent  in 
sieges,  sitthig  before  Tyre  thirteen  years.  To  their  captives  they  were 
savage  and  i>itiless.  In  peace  they  were  "  tender  and  delicate,  given 
to  pleasures,  exceeding  in  dyed  attire  upon  their  heads."  Even  more 
proud  and  cruel  than  the  Assyrians,  their  covetousness  and  luxurious 
indulgences  became  a  proverb.  They  were  fond  of  giving  banquets 
in  their  brilliantly-painted  saloons,  where  their  visitors,  clothed  in 
scarlet  robes  and  resplendent  in  cosmetics  and  jewelry,  trod  on  carpets 
which  were  the  envy  of  the  ancient  world,  and  were  served  with  rich 
meats  and  luscious  fruits  on  gold  and  silver  plates.  The  guests  were 
not  garlanded,  as  in  Egypt,  but  a  profusion  of  flowers  in  elegant  vases 
adorned  the  rooms.  Meantime,  while  the  air  was  filled  with  music 
and  heavy  with  perfumes,  the  merry  revellers  drank  deeply  of  the 
abundant  wine,  and  loudly  sang  the  praises  of  their  favorite  gods. 

In  pleasant  contrast  to  their  dissipation,  appear  their  learning,  enter- 

*  The  Assyrians  wrought  all  the  elaborate  carvings  of  their  colossi  before  raoving 
tnem.  They  then  stood  the  figure  on  a  wooden  sledge,  supporting  it  by  heavy  frame- 
work and  bracing  it  with  ropes  and  beams.  The  sledge  was  moved  over  rollers  by 
gangs  of  men,  levers  and  wedges  being  used  to  facilitate  its  progress.  The  entire 
process  of  transporting  a  colossal  stone  bull  is  graphically  pictured  in  an  extensive 
bas-relief  found  at  Koyunjik,  and  now  in  the  Britislx  Museum. 


THE     MANNERS-    AND     CUSTOMS.  61 

prise  and  honesty  in  trade.  In  their  intercourse  with  strangers,  they 
are  said  to  have  cultivated  calmness  of  manner,  a  virtue  probably  not 
natural  to  them,  but  which  was  founded  upon  an  intense  pride  in 
their  superior  culture  and  scientific  attainments. 

Religion. — The  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  were  both,  in  an  idola- 
trous way,  religious  nations,  though  much  less  ^o  than  the  Egyptians. 
The  sun,  moon,  and  jdanets  were  conspicuous  among  their  gods. 
Their  ideas  of  one  First  Cause  or  Deity  were  even  more  obscure  than 
those  of  the  Egyptians,  and  although  11  or  Ra,  who  stood  at  the  head 
of  the  Chaldean  Pantheon,  was  vaguely  considered  as  the  fount  or 
origin  of  Deity,  there  were  several  other  self-originated  gods,  each 
supreme  over  his  own  sphere.  11  was  too  dimly  comprehended  to  be 
popular,  and  had  apparently  no  temple  in  Chaldea. 

Two  Triads  were  next  in  rank.  The  first  comprised  Ana,  the  lord 
of  spirits  and  demons,  who  represented  original  chaos  ;  Bel  or  Bel- 
Nimrod,  the  hunter,  lord  and  organizer  of  the  world ;  and  Hoa,  the 
lord  of  the  abyss  and  regulator  of  the  universe.  The 
second  triad  embraced  Sin,  the  moon-god  ;  San  (called  in 
Assyria  Shamas),  the  sun-god  ;  and  Vul,  the  air-god.  Each 
god  had  a  wife  who  received  her  share  of  divine  honors. 
After  these  came  the  five  planetary  deities  :  JSln  or  Saturn, 
sometimes  called  the  fish-god — his  emblem  in  Assyria 
being  the  man-bull ;  Bel-Merodach  or  Jupiter  ;  Nergal 
or  Mars— the  man-lion  of  Assyria  ;  Islitar  or  Venus ;  and 
Neho  or  Mercury.  A  host  of  inferior  gods  made  up  the  moon-god. 
Pantheon.  In  the  later  Babylonian  empire,  Bel,  Mero-  (From  a  Cyiin- 
dach,  Nebo  and  Nergal  were  the  favorite  deities,  the  last 
two  receiving  especial  worship  at  Babylon.  The  most  popular  god- 
desses were  Bellis,  wife  of  Bel-Nimrod  and  "mother  of  the  great 
gods";  and  Ishtar,  "queen  of  the  gods,"  who  shared  with  Beltis  the 
titles  of  goddess  of  fertility,  of  war,  and  of  hunting.*  The  gods  were 
symbolized  by  pictorial  emblems,  and  also  by  mystic  numbers.     Thus, 

Hoa  =  40,   emblem  a  serpent      „(^\^     J^^^"*^  .    gj^^  ^  g^^ 

emblem  the  moon    li        Ji;    San  =  20,  emblem  the  sun 

*  In  all  the  Pagan  relitjions  the  characteristics  of  one  deity  often  trench  upon 
those  of  another,  and  in  Chaldea  the  most  exalted  epithets  were  divided  between  a 
number  of  gods.  Thus,  Bel  is  the  "  father  of  the  gods,  the  king  of  the  spirits  ; "  Ana 
and  Merodach  are  each  "  the  original  chief"  and  "  the  most  ancient ;  "  Nebo  is  the 
*'  Lord  of  lords,  who  has  no  equal  in  power  ;  "  Sin  is  "  the  king  of  the  gods  and  the 
lord  of  spirits,"  etc.  The  same  symbol  also  stands  for  different  gods.  Hoa  and  Nebo, 
as  each  the  "god  of  intelligence,"  "  teacher  and  instructor  of  men,"  have  for  one  of 
their  emblems  the  wedge  or  arrow-head  characters  used  in  cuneiform  writing. 


62  BABYLONIA     AND     ASSYRIA. 

Among  the  emblems  symbolizing  otiier  and,  to  us,  unknown  gods,  is 
a  double  cross,  generally  repeated  three  times.  There  was  a  certain 
etiquette  observed  in  religious  honors,  and  here,  as  in  Egypt,  a  temple, 
though  dedicated  to  one  particular  deity,  would  have  laudatory  shrines 
erected  to  other  gods.  So  also  a  Babylonian  gentleman,  having  in- 
scribed upon  his  cylinder-seal  some  god  or  goddess  chosen  as  his 
especial  patron,  out  of  respect  and  compliment  added  the  emblems  of 
various  other  deities. 

1)1  Assyria,  II  was  known  as  Asshur*  and  was  the  supreme  object 
of  worship.  He  was  the  guardian  deity  of  king  and  country,  and  in 
the  sculptures  his  emblem  is  always  seen  near  the  monarch.  In  the 
midst  of  battle,  in  processions  of  victory,  in  public  worship,  or  in  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase,  Asshur  hovers  over  the  scene,  pointing  his  own 
arrow  at  the  king's  enemies,  uplifting  his  hand  with  the  king  in  wor- 
ship, or  spreading  his  wings  protectingly  over  the  scene  of  enjoyment. 
In  bas-reliefs  representing  worship,  there  also  appear  a  "  sacred  tree," 
whose  true  symbolism  is  unknown,  and  winged  eagle-headed  deities  or 
genii  who  hand  to  the  king  mysterious  fruit  from  a  sacred  basket. 
Sin  and  Shamas  were  highly  honored  in  Assyria,  and  their  emblems 
were  worn  by  the  king  on  his  neck.  Upon  the  cylinders  they  are 
conjoined,  the  sun  resting  in  the  crescent  of  the  moon. 

Bel  was  also  a  favorite  god,f  but  iV*?i  and  Nergnl,  the  winged 
bull  and  lion,  the  gods  who  "  made  sharp  the  weapons  "  of  kings,  and 
who  presided  over  war  and  hunting,  were  most  devotedly  worshipped. 
The  race  of  kings  was  traditionally  derived  from  Nin,  and  his  name 
was  given  to  the  mighty  capital  (Nineveh). 

Below  the  Great  Gods  there  were  innumerable  inferior  ones,  each 
town  and  city  having  its  own  local  deities  which  elsewhere  received 
small  respect.  Good  and  evil  spirits  were  represented  as  perpetually 
warring  with  one  another.  Pestilence,  fever,  and  all  the  ills  of  life 
were  personified,  and  man  was  like  a  bewildered  traveler  struggling 
through  a  strange  land,  exposed  to  the  malice  of  a  host  of  unseen  foes, 
whom  he  could  subdue  only  by  charms  and  exorcisms. 

The  Assyrians  apparently  had  no  set  religious  festivals.  When  a 
feast  was  to  be  held  in  honor  of  any  god,  the  king  made  special  pro- 
clamation. During  a  fast,  not  only  king,  nobles  and  people  abstained 
from  food  and  drink,  clothed  themselves  in  sackcloth  and  sprinkled 


*  In  the  original  language,  the  name  of  the  country,  of  the  first  capital,  and  the. 
term  "an  Assyrian,"  are  all  identical  with  the  name  of  this  god. 

t  It  was  common  for  both  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  kings  to  signify  their  favorite, 
god  by  associating  his  name  with  their  own.  The  gods  most  frequently  allied 
with  royal  names  in  Assyria  were  Asshur,  Bel  and  Nebo ;  in  Babylonia,  Nebo  and 
Merodach. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS 


63 


ashes  on  their  heads,  but  all  the  animals  within  the  city  walls  were 
made  to  join  in  the  penitential  observance  (see  Jonah  iii.  5-9). 

Image  Worship, — The  stone,  clay,  and  metal  images  which  adorned 
the  temple  shrines  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia  were  worshipped  as  real 
gods.  So  identified  was  a  divinity  with  its  idol,  that,  in  the  inscrip- 
tions of  kings  where  the  great  gods  were  invoked  in  turn,  the  images 
of  the  same  deity  placed  in  different  temples  were  often  separately 
addressed,  as  Ishtar  of  Babylon,  Ishtar  of  Arbela,  Ishtar  of  Nineveh, 
etc.  In  worship,  living  sacrifices  and  offerings  were  made  and  oblations 
poured,  the  king  taking  the  chief  position,  instead  of  the  priest,  as 
in  Egypt. 

Curious  Babylonish  Customs. — If  we  are  to  believe  Herodotus, 
the  Babylonians  buried  their  dead  in  honey  and  married  their  daughters 
by  auction,  the  money  brought  by  the  handsome  ones  being  given  as 
a  dowry  to  their  less  favored  sisters.  The  marriage  festival  took  place 
once  a  year,  and  no  father  could  give 
his  daughter  at  any  other  time  or  in 
any  other  way.  Each  bride  received  a 
clay  model  of  an  olive,  on  which  was 
inscribed  her  name  and  that  of  her  hus- 
band, with  the  date  of  the  ceremony  ; 
this  was  to  be  worn  on  her  neck. 
Unlike  the  Egyptians,  the  Babylonians 
had  no  regular  physicians ;  the  sick 
and  infirm  were  brought  out  into  the 
market  -  place,  where  the  passers  -  by 
prescribed  remedies  which  had  proved 
effectual  in  their  own  experience  or 
that  of  their  friends  ;  it  being  against 
the  law  to  pass  by  a  sick  person  without 

inquiring  into  the  nature  of  his  disease.  Every  summer  the  slaves 
had  a  festival,  called  Sacees,  when  for  five  days  they  took  command 
of  their  masters,  one  of  them,  clothed  in  a  royal  robe,  respeiving  the 
honors  of  a  king. 


ASSYRIAN   LAMPS. 


SCENES   IN    REAL    LIFE. 


Scene  I. — A  Chaldean  Home. — Let  us  visit  the  home  of  an  ancient 
Chaldean  as  we  should  have  found  it  over  3500  years  ago.  Before  us 
rises  a  high  brick  platform,  supporting  an  irregular  cross-shaped  house 
built  of  burnt  or  sun-dried  bricks  cemented  with  mud  or  bitumen. 
The  outside  is  gayly  adorned  with  colored  terra-cotta  cones  imbedded 
in  mud  or  plaster.     Entering,  we  find  long,  narrow  rooms  opening  one 


64 


BABYLOKIA     AND     ASSYRIA, 


into  another.  If  there  are  windows,  they  are  set  high,  near  the  roof  or 
ceiling.  Upon  the  plastered  walls,  which  are  often  broken  by  little  re- 
cesses, are  cuneiform  inscriptions,  varied  by  red,  black  and  white  bands, 
or  rude,  bright-red  figures  of  men  and  birds*  The  chairs  or  stools,  of 
soft,  light  date- wood,  have  legs  modeled  after  those  of  an  ox.  The 
invaluable  palm-tree,  as  useful  in  Chaldea  as  in  Egypt,  has  not  only 
supplied  the  table  itself,  but  much  of  the  food  upon  it.  Its  fresh 
or  dried  fruit  appears  as  bread  or  sweetmeats ;  its  sap,  as  wine,  vin- 
egar and  honey.     The  table  ware  is  clay  or  bronze.     The  vases  which 

contain  the  wine  are  mostly 
of  coarse  clay  mixed  with 
chopped  straw ;  but,  here 
and  there,  one  of  a  finer 
glaze  shows  the  work  of  the 
potter's  wheel  and  an  idea 
of  beauty.  The  master  of 
the  house  wears  a  long  linen 
robe,  elaborately  striped, 
flounced  and  fringed,  which, 
passing  over  one  shoulder, 
leaves  the  other  bare,  and 
falls  to  bis  feet.  His  beard 
is  long  and  straight,  and 
his  hair  either  gathered  in  a  roll  at  the  back  of  his  head  or  worn 
in  long  curls.  He  does  not  despise  jewelry  on  his  own  person,  and 
his  wife  revels  in  armlets  and  bracelets,  and  in  rings  for  the  fingers 
and  toes.  Bronze  and  iron — which  is  so  rare  as  to  be  a  precious 
metal — are  affected  most  by  the  Chaldean  belle,  but  her  ornaments  are 
also  of  shell,  agate,  and  sometimes  of  gold.  For  the  common  people, 
a  short  tunic  tied  around  the  waist  and  reaching  to  the  knee  is  a  per- 
petual fashion,  suitable  for  a  temperature  which  ranges  from  100°  to 
130"  F.  in  summer.  In  the  severest  winter  season,  where  the  ther- 
mometer falls  to  30°  above  zero,  the  Chaldean  hunter  dons  an  extra 
wrap,  which  covers  his  shoulders  and  falls  below  his  tunic  ;  then, 
barefooted  and  with  a  skull  cap  or  a  camel's-hair  band  on  his  head, 
he  goes  out,  with  his  bronze  arrow-head  and  bronze  or  flint  knife,  to 
shoot  and  dissect  the  wild  boar.     Our  Chaldean  gentleman  makes  out 


SIGNET   CYLINDER   OF    URUCH.t 

(The  earliest  Chaldean  king,  of  whom  many  remains  have 
been  found.  Date,  perhaps  a  century  after  Nimrod. 
See  p.  45.) 


*  This  description  is  based  upon  the  only  two  Chaldean  residences  which  have, 
as  yet,  been  exhumed.    They  date  from  between  b.  c.  1800  and  1600. 

t  Unich  probably  lived  at  some  time  during  the  Pyramid  dynasty  (p.  16)  of 
Egypt.  From  the  above  cylinder  we  learn  that  the  Chaldeans  at  this  early  date 
dressed  in  delicate  fabrics  elaborately  trimmed,  and  had  tastefully-fashioned  house- 
hold furniture. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  GS 

a  deed  or  writes  a  letter  with  a  small  bronze  or  ivory  tool  suited  to  his 
minute,  cuneiform  script,  on  a  bit  of  moist  clay  shaped  like  a  tiny 
pillow  (p.  52).  He  signs  it  by  rolling  across  the  face  the  little  engraved 
jasper  or  chalcedony  cylinder,  which  he  wears  at- 
tached by  a  string  to  his  wrist.  Having  baked  it, 
he  encloses  it  in  a  thin  clay-envelope,  upon  which 
he  repeats  his  message  or  contract,  and  bakes  it 
again.  When  the  Chaldean  dies^his  friends  shroud 
him  in  fine  linen  and  encase  him  in  two  large  stone  ^  cylinder  seal. 
jars,  so  that  the  upper  part  of  his  body  rests  in  one 
and  the  lower  part  in  the  other,  after  which  they  cement  the  two  Jars 
together  with  mud  or  bitumen  ;  or  they  lay  him  upon  a  brick  plat- 
form with  a  reed-matting  beneath  him,  and  place  over  him  a  huge, 
burnt  clay  cover — a  marvel  of  pottery,  formed  of  a  smgle  piece  and 
shaped  like  a  modern  tureen  cover  ;  or  they  put  him  on  the  mat  in  the 
family  arched  vault,  pillowing  his  head  on  a  sun  dried  brick  covered 
with  a  tapestry  cushion.  About  him  they  arrange  his  ornaments  and 
favorite  implements ;  vases  of  wine  are  within  his  reach,  and  in  the 
palm  of  his  left  hand  they  rest  a  bronze  or  copper  bowl  filled  with 
dates  or  other  food  to  strengthen  him  in  his  mysterious  journey 
through  the  silent  land. 

Scene  II. — .1  Morning  in  Nineveh, — "The  Assyrian  was  a  cedar 
in  Lebanon,  exalted  above  all  the  trees  of  the  field,  so  that  all  the 
trees  that  were  in  the  garden  of  God  envied  him,  and  not  one  was 
like  unto  him  in  his  beauty"  {Ezek.  xxxi.).  Six  centuries  and  a  half 
have  passed  since  Chaldea  was  humbled  by  her  northern  neighbor, 
and  Assyria,  not  dreaming  that  her  own  fall  is  so  near,  is  in  the  full- 
ness of  her  splendor  and  arrogance.  It  is  about  the  year  650  b.  c, 
and  the  proud  Asshurbanipal  is  on  the  throne — Asshurbanipal,  who 
has  subdued  the  land  of  the  Pyramids  and  the  Labyrinth,  and  made 
Kamak  and  Luxor  mere  adjuncts  to  his  glory.  Nineveh,  with  her 
great  walls  one  hundred  feet  in  height,  upon  which  three  chariots  can 
run  abreast,  lies  before  us.  The  bright  spring  sun  of  the  Orient  looks 
down  upon  a  country  luxuriant  with  a  rich  but  short-lived  verdure. 
Green  myrtles  and  blossoming  oleanders  fringe  the  swollen  streams, 
and  the  air  is  filled  with  the  sweet  odors  of  the  citron  trees.  The 
morning  fog  has  loaded  the  dwarf  oak  with  manna,  and  the  rains  have 
crowded  the  land  with  flowers.  The  towers,  two  hundred  feet  high, 
which  mark  the  various  city-gates,  throw  long  shadows  over  rows  of 
windowless  houses,  topped  with  open  domes  or  high,  steep,  cone-like 
roofs.  Out  from  these  houses  come  the  people,  dressed  according  to 
their  several  stations ;  bareheaded  and  barefooted  laborers,  clothed  in 
one  garment,  a  plain,  short-sleeved  tunic  reaching  to  the  knee ;  pros- 
perous folk  in  sandals  and  fringed  tunics,  and  the  wealthy,  in  kilts 


66 


BABYLOKIA     AKD     ASSYRIA. 


THE     MANNERS     AKD     CUSTOMS. 


67 


and  trousers.  The  liigher  orders,  priests,  soldiers  and  musicians,  are 
alone  privileged  to  cover  their  heads  with  a  cap  or  tiara,  but  all,  even 
the  meanest,  glory  in  long,  elaborately-dressed  hair.  In  the  dwellings 
of  the  rich,  we  may  see  furniture  of  elegant  design ;  canopied  beds 
and  couches,  and  curtains  of  costly  tapestry  ;  carved  stools  and  tables 
with  feet  fashioned  like  gazelle-hoofs ;  and,  in  the  palace,  luxurious 
chairs,  an  article  sacred  to  gods  and  the  king.  In  the  west  end  of  the 
city,  abutting  the  swift-flow- 
ing Tigris,  is  a  high  platform 
covering  one  hundred  acres, 
on  which  stands  the  magnifi- 
cent palace  of  Asshurbanipal. 
Near  it  is  the  still  larger  one 
built  by  Sennacherib,  his 
grandfather,  and  about  it  are 
parks  and  hanging  gardens. 
The  palaces  have  immense 
portals  guarded  by  colossal 
winged  and  human-headed 
bulls  and  lions  ;  great  court- 
yards paved  with  elegantly- 
patterned  slabs ;  and  arched- 
doorways,  elaborately  sculp- 
tured and  faced  by  eagle- 
headed  deities.  We  miss  the  warm 
lavished  on  Egyptian  temples, 


COLOSSAL   HUMAN-HEADED  WINGED    BULL. 


glowing  colors  so  generously 
There  are  traces  of  the  painter,  but 
his  tints  are  more  subdued  and  more  sparingly  used.  It  is  the  tri- 
umphant day  of  the  sculptor  and  the  enameler,  Asshurbanipal  sits 
on  his  carved  chair,  arrayed  in  his  embroidered  robe  and  mantle.  On 
his  breast  rests  a  large,  circular  ornament  wrought  with  sacred  em- 
blems ;  golden  rosettes  glitter  on  his  red-and- white  tiara,  and  rosettes 
and  crescents  adorn  his  shoes.  He  wears  a  sword  and  daggers,  and 
holds  a  golden  sceptre.  Necklaces,  armlets,  bracelets  and  earrings 
add  to  his  costume.  Behind  him  is  his  parasol-bearer,  grasping  with 
both  hands  a  tall,  thick  pole  supporting  a  fringed  and  curtained  shade. 
His  Grand- Vizier — whose  dress  approaches  his  own  in  magnificence — 
stands  before  him  in  an  attitude  of  passive  reverence  to  receive  the 
royal  orders  ;  the  scribes  are  waiting  to  record  the  mandate,  and  p.  host 
of  attendants  are  at  hand  to  perform  it. 

Scene  III. — A  Royal  Lion-Hunt. — To-day  it  is  a  lion-hunt.  At 
the  palace-gates,  surrounded  by  a  waiting  retinue,  stands  the  king's 
chariot,  headed  by  three  richly-caparisoned  horses,  champing  bronze- 
bits  and  gayly  tinkling  the  bells  on  their  tasseled  collars,  while  grooms 
hold  other  horses  to  be  placed  before  the  chariots  of  high  officials,  after 


68  BABYLOKIA     AKD     ASSYRIA. 

the  monarch  shall  have  mounted.  As  the  king  steps  into  the  box  like 
chariot,  his  two  favorite  eunuchs  adjust  the  well-stocked  quivers,  put 
in  the  long  spears,  and  enter  behind  him  ;  the  charioteer  loosens  the 
reins,  and  the  horses  start  at  full  speed.  At  the  park  or  "paradise," 
a  large  circuit  is  enclosed  by  a  double  rampart  of  spearmen  and  archers, 
and  a  row  of  hounds  held  in  leashes.  Here  the  lions  kept  for  the 
king's  sport  wait  in  their  cages.  Having  arrived  at  the  park  and 
received  a  ceremonious  salute,  the  king  gives  the  order  to  release  the 
wild  beasts.  Cautiously  creeping  out  from  their  cages,  they  seem  at 
first  to  seek  escape  ;  but  the  spearmen's  large  shields  and  bristling 
weapons  dazzle  their  eyes  ;  the  fierce  dogs,  struggling  in  their  leashes, 
howl  in  their  ears  ;  and  the  king's  well-aimed  arrows  quickly  enrage 
them  to  combat.  Swifter  and  swifter  fly  the  darts.  The  desperate 
beasts  spring  at  the  chariot  sides  only  to  receive  death  thrusts  from 
the  spears  of  the  attendants,  while  the  excited  king  shoots  rapidly  on 


THE  ROYAL  LION-HUNT  (FROM   THE   SCULPTURES). 

in  front.  Now  one  has  seized  the  chariot-wheel  with  his  huge  paws 
and  grinds  it  madly  with  his  teeth  ;  but  he,  too,  falls  in  convulsions 
to  the  ground.  The  sport  fires  the  blood  of  the  fierce  Asshurbanipal. 
He  jumps  from  his  chariot,  orders  fresh  lions  to  be  released,  grasps 
his  long  spear,  selects  the  most  ferocious  for  a  hand  to-hand  combat, 
furiously  dispatches  him,  and,  amid  the  deafening  shouts  of  his  ad- 
miring courtiers,  proclaims  his  royal  content.  The  hunt  is  over ;  the 
dead  lions  have  been  collected  for  the  king's  inspection,  and  are  now 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  men  in  a  grand  procession  to  the  palace, 
whither  the  king  precedes  them.  The  chief  oflBcers  of  the  royal  house- 
hold come  out  to  welcome  him  :  the  cup  bearer  brings  wine,  and,  while 
the  king  refreshes  himself,  busily  plies  his  long  fly- whisk  about  the 
royal  head,  the  musicians  meantime  playing  merrily  upon  their  harps. 
It' remains  to  offer  the  finest  and  bravest  of  the  game  to  the  god  of  the 
chase  ;  and  four  of  the  largest  lions  are  accordingly  selected  and 
arranged  side  by  side  before  the  altar.     The  king  and  his  attendants, 


THE     MAJTKERS     A  K  B     CUSTOMS.  69 

all  keeping  time  to  formal  music,  march  in  stately  majesty  to  the 
shrine,  where  Asshurbanipal  raises  the  sacred  cup  to  his  lips,  and 
slowly  pours  the  solemn  libation.  A  new  sculpture  depicting  thie  grand 
event  of  the  day  is  ordered,  and  beneath  it  is  inscribed : 

"  I,  Asshurbanipal,  king  of  the  nations,  king  of  Assyria,  in  my  great  courage, 
fighting  on  foot  with  a  lion  terrible  for  itt»  size,  seized  him  by  the  ear.  and  in  the 
name  of  Asshur  and  of  Ishtar,  Goddess  of  War,  with  the  spear  that  was  in  my  hand 
I  terminated  his  life." 

Scene  IV. — Asshurbanipal  Going  to  War. — The  king  goes  to  war 
in  his  chariot,  dressed  in  his  most  magnificent  attire,  and  attended  by 
a  retinue  of  fan-bearers,  parasol  bearers,  bow,  quiver  and  mace-bearers. 
About  these  gather  his  body-guard  of  foot-spearmen,  each  one  bran- 
dishing a  tall  spear  and  protected  by  scale  armor,  a  pointed  helmet, 
and  a  great  metal  shield.  The  detachment  of  horse-archers  which 
follows,  is  also  dressed  in  coats  of  mail,  leather  breeches,  and  jack- 
boots. Before  and  behind  the  royal  cortege  stretches  the  army— a  vast 
array  of  glancing  helmets,  spears,  shields,  and  battle-axes ;  war- 
riors in  chariots,  on  horse,  and  on  foot ;  heavy-armed  archers  in 
helmet  and  armor,  with  the  strung  bow  on  the  shoulders  and  the 
highly-decorated  quiver  filled  with  bronzy  or  iron-headed  arrows  on 
the  back  ;  light-armed  archers  with  embroidered  head  bands  and  short 
tunics,  and  bare  arms,  limbs,  and  feet :  spearmen  who  carry  great 
wicker  shields,  which  are  made,  in  case  of  need,  to  join  and  furnish 
boats :  and  troops  of  slingers,  mace-bearers,  and  axe-bearers.  The 
massive  throne  of  the  king  is  in  the  cavalcade ;  upon  this,  when  the 
battle  or  siege  is  ended,  he  will  sit  in  great  state  to  receive  the  prisoners 
and  spoil.  Here,  too,  are  his  drinking-cups  and  washing-bowls ;  his 
low-wheeled  pleasure-chair,  his  dressing-table,  and  other  toilet  luxu- 
ries. Battering-rams,  scaling-ladders,  baggage-carts  and  the  usual 
paraphernalia  of  a  great  army  make  up  the  rear,  where  also  in  carefully- 
closed  ar'abas  are  the  king's  wives,  who  with  the  whole  court  follow 
him  to  war.  The  Ninevites  come  out  in  crowds  to  see  the  start ;  the 
musicians — who,  however,  remain  at  home — play  a  brisk  farewell  on 
double-pipes,  harps  and  drum;  the  women  and  children,  standing  in 
procession,  clap  their  hands  and  sing  ;  and  so,  amid  "  the  noise  of  the 
rattling  of  the  wheels,  and  of  the  prancing  horses,  and  of  the  jumping 
chariots"  {Nahum  iii.  2), the  Assyrian  army  sets  off. 

Scene  V. — -.4  Royal  Banquet. — After  many  days  the  host  comes 
back  victorious  (the  sculptures  never  record  defeats),  bringing  great 
spoil  of  gold,  silver,  and  fine  furniture,  countless  oxen,  sheep,  horses 
and  camels,  prisoners  of  war,  and  captured  foreign  gods.  Rejoicing 
and  festivities  abound.  A  royal  feast  is  given  in  the  most  magnificent 
of  the  sculptured  halls,  where  the  tables  glitter  with  gold  and  silver 
stands  laden  with  dried  locusts,  pomegranates,  grapes,  and  citrons. 


70 


BABYLOKIA     A  IST  D     ASSYRIA. 


There  are  choice  meats,  hare  and  garae-birds,  and  an  abundance  of 
mixed  wine  in  the  huge  vases  from  which  the  busy  attendants  fill  the 
beakers,  of  the  guests.  Afterward,  the  king  invites  the  queen  from 
her  seclusion  in  the  beautiful  harem  to  sup  with  him  in  the  garden. 
At  this  banquet,  the  luxurious  Asshurbanipal  re- 
clines on  a  couch,  leaning  his  left  elbow  on  a  cush- 
ioned pillow,  and  holding  in  his  hand  a  lotus,  here, 
as  in  Egypt,  the  sacred  flower.  A  table  with  dishes 
of  incense  stands  by  his  bed,  at  the  foot  of  which 
sits  his  handsome  queen.  Her  tunic  is  fringed  and 
patterned  in  the  elaborate  Assyrian  style,  and  she 
is  resplendent  with  jewelry.  A  grape-vine  shelters 
the  royal  pair,  and  behind  each  of  them  stand  two 
fan-bearers  with  long  brushes,  scattering  the  trou- 
blesome flies.  Meantime  the  king  and  queen  sip 
wine  from  their  golden  cups  ;  the  attendants  bring 
in  fresh  fruits  ;  the  harpers  play  soft  music,  and, 
to  complete  the  triumph  of  the  feast,  from  a  neigh- 
boring tree  surrounded  by  hungry  vultures,  dan- 
gles the  severed  head  of  the  king's  newly-conquered 
enemy. 


ASSYRIAN  KING  AND 
ATTENDANTS. 


4.    SUMMARY. 


1.  Political  History. — Our  earliest  glimpse  of  Chaldea  is  of  a 
mighty  hunter,  Nimrod,  who  founds  Babylon,  Erech,  Accad,  and 
Calneh.  Semites,  who  migrate  northward  to  escape  the  despotic 
Hamite  rule,  now  build  the  Assyrian  cities  upon  the  Tigris.  Hence- 
forth war  rages  between  the  rival  states,  and  the  seat  of  power  fluc- 
tuates between  Babylon  and  Nineveh.  In  1250  B.C.  Babylon  is  over- 
whelmed, and  for  600  years  Nineveh  is  the  seat  of  empire.  Here  the 
Sargonidse — Sennacherib,  Esarhaddon,  and  Asshurbanipal — develop 
the  Golden  Age  of  Assyrian  rule.  The  Babylonians,  however,  con- 
tinue to  revolt,  and  in  747  B.  c.  Nabonasser  ascends  the  Babylonian 
throne,  destroys  the  records  of  all  the  kings  before  his  time,  and 
establishes  a  new  era  from  which  to  reckon  dates.  In  625  b.  c,  Nine- 
veh is  finally  overthrown  by  the  Babylonians  and  the  Medes,  and 
Nabopolasser  establishes  the  second  Babylonian  empire.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar subdues  the  surrounding  nations,  humiliates  Egypt,  captures 
Tyre,  crushes  Judea,  and  with  his  captives  brought  back  to  Babylon 
makes  that  city  the  marvel  of  all  eyes.  It  is,  however,  the  last  of  her 
glory.     Within  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  Babylon  is  taken  by  the 


SUMMAKY 


71 


stratagem  of  Cyrus  the  Great,  Belsliazzar  is  slain,  and  the  mighty  city 
falls  never  again  to  rise  to  her  ancient  glory. 

2.  Civilization. — The  Early  Chaldeans  build  vast  temples  of  sun- 
dried  brick  cemented  with  bitumen  ;  write  in  cuneiform  characters  on 
clay-tablets  ;  engrave  signet  cylinders ;  use  implements  of  stone,  flint 
and  bronze  ;  manufacture  cloth ;  make  boats  and  navigate  the  sea. 
They  are  learned  in  astronomy  and  arithmetic  ;  discover  the  equi- 
noctial precession  {Steele's  Astronomy^  p.  121) ;  divide  the  day  into 
twenty-four  hours ;  invent  dials  and  calculate  a  table  of  squares. 
They  place  their  houses  on  high  platforms  ;  make  their  furniture  of 
date-wood,  and  use  table-ware  of  clay  or  bronze.  The  palm-tree  fur- 
nishes them  food.  Their  dead  are  buried  in  large  clay -jars,  or  in  dish- 
covered  tombs,  or  are  laid  to  rest  in  arched  brick  vaults.  Like  the 
Egyptians,  they  are  Hamites. 


INTERIOR   COURTYARD   OF   A   MODERN    ORIENTAL   HOUSE. 


The  Assyrians,  their  Semitic  conquerors,  are  a  fierce,  warlike  race, 
skilful  in  agriculture,  in  blowing  glass  and  shaping  pottery,  in  casting 
and  embossing  metals,  and  in  engraving  gems.  They  dye,  weave, 
and  are  superior  in  plastic  art.  They  build  great  palaces,  adorning 
them  with  sculptured  alabaster  slabs,  colossal  bulls  and  lions,  paved 
courts,  and  eagle-headed  deities.  They,  too,  write  upon  clay-tablets, 
and  cover  terracotta  cylinders  with  cuneiform  inscriptions.  Their 
principal  gods  are  the  heavenly  bodies.  They  do  not  worship  animals, 
like  the  Egyptians,  but  place  images  of  clay,  stone  or  metal  in  their 
temples  and  treat  them  as  real  deities.  Magic  and  sorcery  abound. 
There  is  no  caste  among  the  people,  but  all  are  at  the  mercy  of  the 
king.  Women  are  not  respected  as  in  Egypt,  and  they  live  secluded 
in   their  own   apartments.     Clay  books  are  collected  and  libraries 


n 


SABYLOJSriA     AKD     ASSYRIA 


founded,  but  most  of  the  learning  comes  from  the  conquered  race,  and 
the  Chaldean  is  the  classic  language. 

Among  the  Later  Chaldeans  or  Babylonians,  caste  is  rigid  ;  but,  as  in 
Assyria,  the  king  has  unlimited  power.  The  nobility  live  luxuriantly 
and  are  fond  of  banqueting.  Industries  flourish  and  commerce  is 
extensive.  Babylonian  robes  and  tapestries  surpass  all  others  in  fine- 
ness of  texture  and  brightness  of  hue.  Far  below  Assyria  in  the  art 
of  sculptured  bas-relief,  Babylonia  excels  in  brick-enameling,  and  is 
greatly  the  superior  in  originality  of  invention,  in  literary  culture  and 
scientific  attainment.  From  her,  Assyria  draws  her  learning,  her 
architecture,  her  religious  notions,  her  legal  forms,  and  many  of  her 
customs  and  usages. 

"In  Babylonia  almost  every  branch  of  science  made  a  beginning.  She  was  the 
source  to  which  the  entire  stream  of  Eastern  civilization  may  be  traced.  It  is 
scarcely  too  much  to  say  that,  but  for  Babylon,  real  civilization  might  not  even  yet 
have  dawned  upon  the  earth,  and  mankind  might  never  have  advanced  beyond  that 
spurious  and  false  form  of  it,  which  in  Egypt,  India,  China,  Japan,  Mexico,  and 
Peru,  contented  the  aspirations  of  the  people."— i?aw/in«o?i'«  Anc.  Mon. 

READING    REFERENCES. 

Rawlinson/s  History  of  Ancient  Monarchies.— Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture, 
and  Palaces  of  Nineveh  and  Persepolis  Restored.— Lay ard's  Monuments  of  Nineveh., 
and  Nineveh  and  its  Remains.— Viollet  Le  Due's  Habitations  of  Man  in  all  Ages.— 

Records  of  the  Past  (6  vols,  of  Assyrian  texts). Sayce's  Babylonian  Literature.— 

LenormanVs  Ancient  Chaldean  Magic— Loftus's  Chaldea  and  Susiana. -Smith's 
Early  History  of  AssyHa  and  Babylonia.— Also  the  General  Ancient  Histories  namsd 
on  page  kU. 


CHRONOLOGY. 

Nimrod  founded  Babylon  about 2300 

Rise  of  Assyria • 1250 

Era  of  Nabonassar 747 

Pall  of  Nineveh •  625 

Cyrus  captured  Babylon 538 

Alexander  captured  Babylon 331 


THE    SITE   OF   ANCIENT    BABYLON. 


PHCENICIA 


The  Phoenicians  were  Semites.  They  inhabited  a  bar- 
ren strip  of  land,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean, 
not  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  long  and 
a  dozen  broad.  The  country  was  never  united  under  one 
king,  but  each  city  was  a  sovereignty  by  itself.  A  powerful 
aristocracy  was  connected  with  these  little  monarchies,  but 
the  bulk  of  the  people  were  slaves  brought  from  foreign 
countries.  The  principal  cities  were  Sidon  and  Tyre,* 
which  successively  exercised  a  controlling  influence  over  the 
others.  The  chief  defence  of  the  Phoenicians  lay  in  their 
naval  power.  Situated  midway  between  the  east  and  the 
west,  and  at  the  junction  of  three  continents,  they  carried 
on  the  trade  of  the  world.f  The  Mediterranean  became  the 
mere  highway  of  their  commerce.  They  passed  the  Strait 
of  Gibraltar  on  one  hand,  and  reached  India  on  the  other. 

They  settled  Cyprus,  Sicily,  and  Sardinia.  In  Spain, 
they  founded  Gades  (now  Cadiz) ;  and  in  Africa,  Utica,  and 
Carthage — the  latter  destined  to  be  in  time  the  dreaded  rival 
of  Rome.     They  planted  dep6ts  on  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the 

Geographical  QuesUons.— Bound.  Phoenicia.  Locate  Tyre.  Sidon.  Joppa. 
Name  the  principal  Phoenician  colonies.  Where  was  Carthage  ?  Utica  ?  Tarshish  ? 
Gades  ?    The  Pillars  of  Hercules  ? 

*  Tyre,  which  was  founded  by  Sidonians,  has  been  called  the  Daughter  of  Sidon 
and  the  Mother  of  Carthage. 

t  Read  the  27th  chapter  of  Ezekiel  for  a  graphic  account  of  the  Phoenician  com- 
merce in  his  day. 

4 


74 


PHCEKICIA, 


Red  Sea.  They  obtained  tin  from  the  British  Isles,*  amber 
from  the  Baltic,  silver  from  Tarshish  (southern  Spain),  and 
gold  from  Ophir  (southeastern  Arabia).  In  connection  with 
their  maritime   trade    they  established    great    commercial 


*  They  concealed  the  source  of  their  supplies  so  carefully  that  once  a  Phcenician 
captain,  outward  bound,  flndinj;  himself  followed  by  a  Roman  ship  sent  to  discover 
his  destined  port,  lan  his  own  vessel  on  the  rocks  to  lead  his  enemy  to  destruction, 
and  prevent  revealing  the  secret.  On  his  return  home  the  goveniment  compensated 
him  for  his  loss. 


1000  B.C.] 


PSCENICIA 


•^s 


routes  by  which  their  merchants  penetrated  the  interior  of 
Europe  and  Asia.  With  the  growth  of  Carthage  and  the 
rising  power  of  Greece  they  lost  their  naval  supremacy. 
But  the  land  traffic  of  Asia  remained  in  their  hands,  and 
their  caravans,  following  the  main  traveled  route  through 
Palmyra,  Baalbec,  and  Babylon,  permeated  all  the  Orient. 


THE   RUINS   OF   ANCIENT   TYRE., 


Loss  of  Independence. — Rich  perch  ant  cities  were 
tempting  prizes  in  those  days  of  strife.  From  about  850 
B.  c.  Phoenicia  became  the  spoil  of  each  of  the  great  con- 
querors who  successively  achieved  empire.  It  was  made  a 
province,  in  turn,  of  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Persia,  Egypt, 
Greece,  and  finally  Rome.  The  Phoenicians  patiently  sub- 
mitted to  the  oppression  of  these  various  masters,  and  paid 
their  tribute  at  Memphis  or  Nineveh,  as  the  case  might  be. 
To  them  the  mere  question  of  liberty,  or  the  amount  of 
their  taxes,  was  a  small  one  compared  with  the  opening  or 


%  '        I»H<EKIC1A.  [880-14eB.C. 

closing  of  their  great  routes  of  trade.  The  general  avoid- 
ance of  war,  except  as  they  entered  the  service  of  their 
foreign  masters,  must  have  arisen  from  self-interest,  and  not 
from  cowardice,  since  the  Phoenician  navigator  displayed  a 
courage  shaming  that  of  the  mere  soldier. 

Carthage,*  the  most  famous  Phoenician  colony,  was 
founded,  according  to  legend,  about  880  b.  c,  by  Dido,  who 
came  thither  with  a  body  of  aristocrats  fleeing  from  the 
democratic  party  of  T3rre.  The  location  of  Carthage  was 
African,  but  its  origin  and  language  were  Asiatic.  The 
policy  of  the  warlike  daughter  proved  very  unlike  that  of  the 
peaceful  mother.  The  young  city,  having  gained  wealth  by 
commerce,  steadily  pushed  her  conquests  among  the  neigh- 
boring tribes,  inch  by  inch,  until,  by  the  7th  century  b.  c, 
she  reached  the  frontier  of  Numidia.  No  ancient  people 
rivalled  her  in  ability  to  found  colonies.  These  were  all 
kept  subject  to  the  parent  city,  and  their  tribute  enriched 
her  treasury.  Of  the  history  of  Carthage  we  know  little, 
and  still  less  of  her  laws,  customs,  and  life.  No  Punic 
orator,  philosopher,  historian,  or  poet  has  left  behind  any 
fragment  to  tell  of  the  thoughts  that  stirred  or  the  events 
that  formed  this  wonderful  people.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
desolating  wars  that  accompanied  her  fall,  we  should  hardly 
know  that  such  a  city^nd  such  a  nation  ever  existed. 


*  Carthage  was  built  on  a  peninsula  about  three  miles  wide.  Across  this  was 
constructed  a  triple  wall  with  lofty  towers.  A  single  wall  defended  the  city  on  every 
side  next  the  sea.  The  streets  were  lined  with  massive  houses  lavishly  adorned 
with  the  riches  of  the  Punic  traders.  Two  long  piers  reached  out  into  the  sea, 
forming  a  double  harbor,  the  outer  for  merchant  ships  and  the  inner  for  tbe  navy. 
In  the  center  of  the  inner  harbor  was  a  lofty  island  crowned  with  the  admiral's 
palace.  Around  this  island  and  the  entire  circumference  of  the  inner  harbor,  ex- 
tended a  marble  colonnade  of  Ionic  pillars  two  stories  high  ;  the  lower  story  forming 
the  front  of  the  curved  galleries  for  the  protection  of  the  ^hips ;  and  the  upper,  of 
the  rooms  for  workshops,  storehouses,  etc.  The  limits  of  the  city  were  twenty-three 
miles,  and  it  was  probably  more  populous  than  Rome.  Its  navy  was  the  largest 
in  the  world,  and  in  the  sea-fight  with  Regulus  comprised  350  vessels  carrying 
150,000  men. 


THECIVILIZATIOl?".  77 

The  Civilization. — "  Assyria  and  Egypt  were  the  birth-places 
of  material  civilization,  and  the  Phoenicians  were  its  missionaries." 
The  depots  of  the  Phoenician  merchants  were  centers  whence  germs 
of  culture  were  scattered  broadcast.  To  Europe  and  Africa  these 
traders  brought  the  arts  and  refinements  of  the  older  and  more 
advanced  East. 

lAterature. — But  the  Phoenicians  were  more  than  mere  carriers. 
To  them  we  owe  the  alphabet,*  which  we  have  inherited,  with  some 
modifications,  through  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Unfortunately  no 
remains  of  Phoenician  literature  survive.  Treatises  on  agriculture 
and  the  useful  arts  are  said  to  have  been  numerous ;  Debir,  a 
Canaanite  (probably  Phoenician)  town  of  Palestine,  was  termed  the 
"  book-city." 

Arts  and  Inventions. — The  Phoenicians  were  the  first  to  notice  the 
connection  of  the  moon  with  the  tides,  and  apply  astronomy  prac- 
tically to  navigation.  They  carried  on  vast  mining  operations,  and 
were  marvellous  workers  in  ivory,  pottery,  and  the  metals,  so  that 
their  bronzes  and  painted  vases  became  the  models  of  early  Grecian 
art.  The  prize  assigned  by  Achilles  for  the  foot-race  at  the  funeral 
of  Patrocles  {Iliad,  XXIII,  471)  was— 

"  A  bowl  of  solid  silver,  deftly  wrought, 
That  held  six  measures,  and  in  beauty  far 
Surpassed  whatever  else  the  world  could  boast ; 
Since  men  of  Sidon  skilled  in  glyptic  art 
Had  made  it,  and  Phcenician  mariners 
Had  brought  it  with  them  over  the  dark  sea."  t 

*  The  Phoenicians  selected  from  the  Egyptian  hieratic  twenty -two  letters,  making 
each  the  representative  of  one  definite  articulation.  It  was  the  first  true  alphabet. 
Twelve  of  these  letters  we  retain  with  nearly  their  Phcenician  value.  Read  article 
on  Alphabet  in  Appleton's  New  Encyclopoedia. 

t  Until  within  fifteen  years,  no  specimen  of  Phoenician  sculpture  or  of  pure 
Phoenician  art  was  known  to  exist.  It  is  to  Luigi  Palma  di  Cesnola— an  Italian 
Count,  who  has  become  a  naturalized  American,  a  Brigadier-General  in  the  United 
States  Army  and  Consul  to  the  island  of  Cyprus— that  wo  owe  some  of  the  most 
valuable  discoveries  of  the  present  century.  Di  Cesnola,  in  his  excavations  at 
Cyprus,  has  opened  over  eight  thousand  tombs,  and  brought  to  light  an  immense 
quantity  of  Greek  and  Phoenician  treasures,  part  of  which  are  now  preserved  in  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  the  Central  Park  at  New  York.  The  Phoenician 
tombs  were  discovered  several  feet  below  the  Grecian  ;  the  Phoenician  city  having 
perished  and  a  Greek  one  sprung  up,  "  which,  in  time,  silently  entered  its  dark  home, 
without  knowing  or  suspecting  that  it  reposed  upon  another  and  an  older  city  of  the 
dead."  Phoenician  tombs  were  generally  rock-cut  and  subterranean  ;  having  two  or 
more  chambers,  with  recesses  in  the  walls  where  the  coffins  rested.  Those  found  in 
Cyprus  were  "  oven-shaped  and  seal«d  at  the  mouth  by  a  rough  stone,  and  in  some 
of  them  were  sarcophagi  of  stone  and  marble.  Time  had  left  no  remains  except  a 
few  skulls.  Upon  these  the  gold-leaf  placed  by  the  Phoenicians  over  the  mouth  of 
the  dead  was  frequently  found." 


78 


PHCEN^ICIA. 


Sidon  was  noted  for  its  glass-working,  in  which  the  blow-pipe, 
lathe,  and  graver  were  used.  The  costly  purple  dye  of  Tyre,  ob- 
tained in  minute  drops  from  shell-fish,  was  famous,  the  rarest  and 


most  beautiful  shade  being  worn  only  by  kings.  The  Phoenicians 
were  celebrated  for  their  perfumes,  and  had  a  reputati(m  for  nicety  of 
execution  in  all  ornamental  arts.  When  Solomon  was  about  to  build 
the  great  Jewish  Temple,  King  Hiram  sent,  at  his  request,  "  a  cun- 
ning man  of  Tyre,  skillful  to  work  in  gold,  in  silver,  in  brass,  in 
iron,  in  stone,  and  in  timber;  in  purple,  in  blue,  in  crimson,  and 
in  fine  linen ;  also  to  grave  any  manner  of  graving,  and  to  find  out 
every  device  which  shall  be  put  to  him." 

Their  JReligion  resembled  that  of  the  Chaldeans  and  Assyrians, 
but  was  more  cruel.  Baal  and  Mohch  were  great  gods  connected 
with  the  sun.  They  were  worshipped  in  groves  on  high  places, 
amid  the  wild  cries  and  self-mutilations  of  their  votaries.  Before 
and  after  a  battle  (if  victorious)  large  numbers  of  human  beings 


THE     CIVILIZATION". 


79 


were  sacrificed.  Melcarth,  the  special  god  of  Tyre,  united  the 
attributes  of  Baal  and  Moloch.  He  was  a  Hercules  who  pulled  back 
the  sun  to  the  earth  at  the  time  of  the  solstices,  moderated  all 
extreme  weather,  and  counteracted  the  evil  signs  of  the  zodiac ;  his 
symbol  was  that  of  the  Persian  Ormazd — a  never-ceasing  flame 
(p.  98).  Astarte  or  Ashtaroth,  goddess  of  fire  and  chief  divinity  of 
Sidon,  became  the  wife  of  Mel  earth ;  she  symbolized  the  moon. 

Children  were  the  favorite  offerings  to  Moloch.  At  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xxiii.  10) 
the  hollow  metal  image  of  the.Tyrian  god  was  heated  by  a  fire  beneath  it,  the 
priest  placed  the  child  in  the  idol's  glowing  hands,  and  drums  were  beaten  to 
drown  the  little  sufferer's  cries.  So  common  were  such  sacrifices  that  one  historian 
says  the  Phoenicians  offered  some  relative  on  the  occasion  of  any  great  calamity  ; 
and  when  the  Carthaginians  were  besieged  by  Agathocles,  tyrant  of  Sicih\they  de- 
voted two  hundred  of  their  noblest  children  in  a  public  sacrifice,  three  hundred  addi- 
tional ones  surrendering  themselves  voluntarily.  Even  in  Roman  Carthage  these 
horrible  sights  were  revived,  and  infants  were  publicly  offered  till  Tiberius,  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  revolting  practice,  crucified  the  priests  on  the  same  trees  beneath  whose 
shade  they  had  performed  these  cruel  rites. 


READING    REFERENCES. 

T/ie  General  Ancient  Histories  named  on  pp.  ItU  and  73.—Chevallier  and  Lenor- 
manVs  Manual  of  Oriental  History.— Smith's  History  of  the  World,  Vol,.  II..,  pp.  3U3- 
U05  {this  includes  an  account  of  Carthage).— Capt.  Mago's  Adventures,  a  Phoenician 
Expedition  1000  b.  c— Arnold'' s  History  of  Rome,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  h55-U67  {Carthaginian 
Institutions).— Mommsen's  History  of  Rome,  Vol.  II.,  p.  261  {Carthage). 


CHRONOLOGY. 

B.C. 

Sidon  founded,  about 1550 

Rise  of  Tyre,  about 1050 

Carthage  founded,  about .  880 

Phoenicia  conquered  by  Assyria,  about 850 

Tyre  captured  by  Nebuchadnezzar 605 

Tyre  captured  by  Alexander 333 


A   PHCENICIAN   GALLEY. 


JU  DE  A. 


The  Jews  were  Semites,  and  related  to  the  Assyrians 
and  the  Phoenicians.  Their  history  opens  (in  the  20th  cen- 
tury B.  c.)  with  the  coming  of  Abraham  from  Chaldea  into 
Canaan.  There  he  and  his  descendants  lived,  simple  shej)- 
herds,  like  the  Arabs  of  to-day,  dwelling  in  tents  among 
their  flocks  and  herds.  By  a  singular  fortune,  Joseph  ^ 
Abraham's  great  grandson,  became  vizier  of  A-pe-pi  II.,  one 
of  the  Shepherd  Kings  of  Egypt  (p,  17).  Being  naturally 
desirous  of  surrounding  himself  by  foreigners  who  would 
support  him  against  a  revolt  of  the  people,  that  monarch 
invited  the  Hebrews  to  settle  in  Egypt.  Here  they  greatly 
prospered.  But  in  time  the  native  kings,  who  *' knew  not 
Joseph,"  were  restored.  During  the  XIX th  dynasty,  Eame- 
ses  II.,  fearful  of  the  number  of  the  Jews  and  their  attach- 
ment to  the  usurping  line,  sought  to  reduce  them  by  hard 
service  on  the  vast  public  works  of  his  reign  (p.  18).  But 
Moses,  one  of  the  profoundest  statesmen  of  history,  who 
was  versed  in  all  the  learning  of  the  Egyptian  court — then 
the  center  of  civilization — rescued  his  people  from  their 
bondage.* 

Geof/faphtcal  Questions.— Bound  Palestine.  Locate  the  Dead  Sea.  The  Sea 
of  Galilee.  The  Kingdom  of  Judah.  The  Kingdom  of  Israel,  Describe  the  River 
Jordan.  Where  was  Jerusalem  ?  Samaria  ?  Jericho  ?  Damascus  ?  Palmyra  (Tad- 
mor)  ?    Jpppa  ?    Name  the  cities  of  the  Philistines. 

*  The  wonderful  events  by  which  this  was  accomplished  are  familiar  to  every 
Bible  student.    The  design  is  here  to  give  only  the  political  history,  omitting  that 


J.WELL8,  DEt. 


RUSSELL  A  STRUTHERS.ENG'S  N.Y. 


82  J  U  D  E  A .  [1491  B.  c. 

The  Exodus  (about  1491  b.  c). — For  forty  years  Moses 
led  the  Jews  through,  the  wilderness  until  the  3,000,000  of 
slaves  became  assimilated  into  a  nation  of  freemen,  were 
won  from  Egyptian  idolatries  to  the  pure  worship  of  the 
one  God  of  their  fathers,  were  trained  to  war,  and  made 
acquainted  with  the  religious  rites  and  the  priestly  govern- 
ment which  were  henceforth  to  distinguish  them  as  a  people. 

The  Conquest  of  Palestine  was  accomplished  by 
Joshua,*  successor  to  Moses,  in  about  six  years  of  fierce 
battles,  during  which  thirty-one  of  the  principal  Canaanite 
cities  were  destroyed. 

The  Judges. — Unfortunately,  Joshua  at  his  death  neg- 
lected to  appoint  a  new  leader.  For  want  of  a  head  the 
tribes  fell  apart.  The  old  spirit  of  enthusiasm,  of  nation- 
ality, and  of  religious  fervor  died  out.  Idolatry  crept  in. 
The  Jews  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  powerful  nations  around 
them.  From  time  to  time  there  arose  heroic  men  who 
aroused  their  patriotism,  inspired  a  new  zeal  for  the  Mosaic 
law,  and  induced  them  to  shake  oS  the  yoke  of  servitude. 
These  were  the  days  of  the  Judges— Othniel,  Ehud,  Gideon, 
Samson,  the  prophetess  Deborah,  and  the  prophet  Samuel. 

Kingdom  of  Israel. — During  the  last  days  of  the  Judges 
(and  of  Rameses  III.  of  Egypt),  while  the  Jews  and  the 
Oanaanites  were  wasting  their  strength  in  war,  a  new  power 
grew  up  on  their  borders.     The  Philistines  formed  a  strong 

Providential  oversight  more  often  avowed  in  tfce  case  of  the  Jews,  but  not  more  real 
than  in  the  life  of  every  nation  and  individt  al.  It  is  noticeable  that  Mineptah, 
the  Pharaoh  who,  according  to  a  common  belief  not  supported  by  the  sacred  volume, 
perished  m  the  Red  Sea,  lived  many  ^'jars  after  that  disaster,  and  died  in  his  bed. 
Bruf  sch  fixes  the  Exodus  at  1330  b.  c.  ;  the  date  given  above  is  that  of  the  ordinary 
chronology  (Usher's).    See  1  Kings  vi.  1. 

*  Joshua's  plan  of  crossing  the  Jordan,  capturing  Jericho,  taking  the  heights 
beyond  by  a  night-march,  and  delivering  the  crushing  blow  atBethhoron  (Joshua  x.  9) 
was  a  masterpiece  of  strategy,  and  ranks  him  among  the  great  generals  of  the  world. 
His  first  movement  placed  him  in  the  center  of  the  country  where  he  could  prevent 
his  enemies  from  massing  against  him,  and,  turning  in  any  direction,  cut  them 
UP  in  detail. 


1095-975  B.C.] 


JUDEA. 


83 


confederation  of  five  cities  along  the  coast  south  of  Phoeni- 
cia, and  threatened  the  conquest  of  Canaan.  In  order  to 
make  head  against  them,  the  Jews  demanded  a  king.  Ac- 
cordingly three  monarchs  were  giyen  them  in  succession — 
Saul,  David,  and  8olo7non.  Each  reigned  forty  years.  The 
first  was  merely  a  general,  who  obeyed  the  orders  of  God  as 
revealed  through  the  prophet  Samuel.  The  second  was  a 
warrior-king.      He  enlarged  the  boundaries  of   Palestine, 


TOMBS   OF   THE  JUDGES. 


fixed  the  capital  at  Jerusalem,  organized  an  army,  and  en- 
forced the  worship  of  Jehovah  as  the  national  religion.  The 
third  was  a  magnificent  oriental  monarch.  His  empire 
reached  to  the  Euphrates,  and  the  splendor  of  his  court 
rivaled  that  at  Tyre,  Memphis,  or  Nineveh.  He  married 
an  Egyptian  princess,  built  the  temple  on  Mount  Moriah, 
erected  splendid  palaces,  and  sent  expeditions  to  India  and 
Arabia.  This  was  the  golden  age  of  Judea,  and  Jerusalem 
overflowed  with  wealth. 


84:  JUUEA.  [975B.C. 

The  Two  Kingdoms. — Luxury,  however,  brought  ener- 
vation, commerce  introduced  idolatry,  extravagance  led  to 
oppressive  taxation.  The  people,  on  Solomon's  death,  de- 
manded of  his  son  a  redress  of  their  grievances.  This  being 
haughtily  refused,  a  revolt  ensued.  The  empire  was  rent  into 
the  two  petty  kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah,  the  former 
containing  ten  tribes  ;  the  latter,  two. 

Israel  (-975  to  721  =  254  years)  was  idolatrous  from  the 
start.  It  was  a  continued  scene  of  turmoil  and  wrong.  Its 
nineteen  kings  belonged  to  nine  different  families,  and  eight 
met  a  violent  death.  Finally  the  Assyrians,  under  Sargon, 
captured  Samaria,  the  capital,  and  sent  the  peoi:>le  prisoners 
into  Media.  They  disappeared  from  history,  and  are  still 
known  as  the  **  Lost  tribes."  The  few  Hebrews  who  re- 
mained combined  with  the  foreign  settlers  to  form  the 
Samaritans. 

Judah  (975  to  586  =  389  years)  retained  the  national 
religion.  Its  twenty  kings,  save  one  usurper,  were  all  of 
the  house  of  David  in  regular  descent.  But  it  lay  in  the 
pathway  of  the  mighty  armies  of  Egypt  and  Assyria.  Thrice 
its  enemies  held  Jerusalem.  At  last  Nebuchadnezzar  de- 
stroyed the  city  and  carried  many  of  the  principal  inhab- 
itants to  Babylon. 

The  Captivity  lasted  about  seventy  years.  The  Jews 
prospered  in  their  adopted  country,  and  many,  like  Daniel, 
rose  to  high  favor. 

The  Restoration. — Cyrus,  after  the  capture  of  Babylon 
(p.  51),  was  friendly  to  the  Jews,*  and  allowed  those  who 
chose,  to  return  to  Judea  and  rebuild  their  temple.  They 
were  greatly  changed  by  their  bondage,  and  henceforth  were 
faithful  to  their  religion.     While  they  had  lost  their  native 

*  This  was  owing  to  (1)  similarity  in  their  religions ;  (2)  the  foretelling  of  the 
victories  of  Cyrus  by  the  Jewish  prophets  ;  and  (3}  the  influence  of  Daniel.  Read 
Daniel.  Nehemiah,  and  Ezra. 


536  B.  c] 


THE     CIVILIZATION. 


85 


language,  they  had  acquired  a  love  for  commerce,  and  many 
afterward  went  to  foreign  countries  and  engaged  in  trade, 
for  which  they  are  still  noted. 

Their  later  history  was  full  of  vicissitude.  They  be- 
came  a  part  of  Alexander's  World-empire  (p.  151).  When 
that  crumbled,  Palestine  fell  to  the 
Ptolemies  of  Egypt  (p.  154).  In  the 
1st  century  b.  c,  Judea  was  absorbed 
in  the  universal  dominion  of  Rome. 
The  Jews,  however,  frequently  re- 
belled, until  finally,  after  a  siege  of  untold  horror,  Titus  cap- 
tured Jerusalem  and  razed  it  to  the  ground.  The  Jewish 
nation  perished  in  its  ruins. 


ORIENTAL   SANDAL. 


The  Civilization. — The  Jews  were  an  agricultural  people. 
The  Mosaic  law  discouraged  trade  and  intercourse  with  foreign 
nations.  The  priests,  who  received  a  share  of  the  crops,  naturally 
favoredthecultivationof  the  soil.  There 
was  no  art  nor  science  developed.  When 
the  Temple  was  to  be  built,  Solomon 
obtained  not  only  skilled  laborers  from 
the  Phcenicians  (p.  79),  but  also  sailors 
for  his  fleet.  Yet  this  people,  occupy- 
ing a  little  territory  150  miles  long  and 
50  broad,  has,  like  no  other,  influenced 
the  world's  history.  Its  sacred  books 
constitute  the  Bible;  its  religion  has 
molded  the  faith  of  the  most  progressive 
and  civilized  nations ;  while  from  its 
royal  family  descended  the  Christ  who 
is  to-day  the  ideal  of  a  pure  life,  and 
the  grandest  factor  in  all  history. 

The  Jewish  Commonwealth  was  the  first  republic  of  which  we  have 
any  definite  knowledge.  The  foundation  was  the  house  :  thence  the 
ascent  was  through  the  family  or  collection  of  houses,  and  the  tribe 
or  collection  of  families  to  the  nation.  There  were  twelve  heads  of 
tribes,  or  princes,  and  a  senate  of  seventy  elders,  but  the  source  of 
power  was  the  popular  assembly  known  as  the  "  Congregation  of 


ANCIENT  JEWISH    BOOK. 


<  86 


JUDEA 


HEBREW   PRIEST   OFFERING  INCENSE. 


Israel,"  in  which  every  Hebrew  proper  had  a  voice.     This  gathering, 
like  the  centurion  assembly  of  Rome  (p.  215),  formed  the  Jewish 
army. 
The  Mosaic  Laws  were  mild,  far  beyond  the  spirit  of  the  age.    The 

cities  of  refuge  modified  the  rigors 
of  the  custom  of  personal  retalia- 
tion, and  gave  to  all  the  benefits  of 
an  impartial  trial.  The  slave  was 
protected  against  excessive  punish- 
ment, and  if  of  Hebrew  birth  was 
set  free  with  his  children  at  the 
Jubilee  year.  Land  could  not  be 
sold  for  more  than  fifty  years,  and 
the  debtor  could  always  expect  on 
the  Jubilee  to  go  back  to  the  home 
of  his  fathers.  The  stranger  secured 
hospitality  and  kindness.  Usury 
was  prohibited.  For  the  benefit 
of  the  poor,  fruit  was  left  on  the 
tree,  and  grain  in  the  field,  the  law 
forbidding  the  harvest-land  or  vine- 
yard to  be  gleaned.  Cruelty  to  animais  was  punished,  and  even  the 
mother-bird  with  her  young  could  not  be  taken. 

Learning  was  held  in  high  esteem.  All  the  Jews  received  what 
we  should  call  a  "  comnum-school  education."  With  this,  the 
Levites,  the  hereditary  teachers,  blended  instruction  in  the  sacred 

history,  the  precepts  of 
religion,  and  their  duties 
to  God  and  their  coun- 
try. Every  boy  was 
compelled  to  learn  a 
trade.  Ignorance  of  some 
kind  of  handicraft  was 
discreditable,  and  the 
greatest  scholars  and 
statesmen  had  some  regular  occupation.  After  the  captivity,  edu- 
cation seems  to  have  been  made  compulsory. 

The.Hittites,  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  who 
inhabited  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Orontes,  and  spread  throughout 
southern  Syria,  are  proved  by  recent  discoveries  to  have  been  not 
only  a  military  and  commercial  nation,  but  to  have  made  great 


JEWISH    SHEKEL. 


THE     CI  VILIZATIOK. 


87 


advances  in  civilization  and  the  fine  arts.  A  court  poet  is  mentioned 
on  the  Egyptian  monuments  as  having  been  among  the  retinue  of  a 
Hittite  king,  and  the  early  art  discovered  in  Cyprus  by  Di  Cesnola 
is  supposed  to  be  largely  derived  from  this  people,  who  long  resisted 
both  the  Assyrians  and  the  Egyptians.  The  Egyptians  called  them 
the  Kheta,  and  the  victory  of 
Rameses  II.  over  the  "  vile  chief 
of  Kheta"  is  celebrated  in  the 
poem  of  Pentaur  (p.  25).  Some  ^^^ 
famous  sculptured  figures  along  ancient  key. 

the  roads  near  Ephesus  and  from 

Smyrna  to  Sardis,  which  were  attributed  by  Herodotus  to  Rameses  II., 
prove  now  to  be  Hittite  monuments.  The  language  and  various 
memorials  of  this  onca-powerful  people  are  being  eagerly  investi- 
gated by  archaeologists,  who  have  afready  discovered  the  site  of 
their  commercial  capital,  Carchemish,  in  a  huge  mound  on  the 
lower  Euphrates.  In  this  mound,  which  is  a  mass  of  earth,  frag- 
ments of  masonry  and  debris,  surrounded  by  ruined  walls  and 
broken  towers,  many  important  remains  with  inscriptions  are  now 
being  found. 

CHRONOLOGY. 

B.C. 

Abraham  migrated  to  Canaan,  r.bout 2000 

The  Exodus,  about 1491 

Monarchy  established 1095 

Reign  of  Solomon , .* 1015-975 

Division  of  the  Kingdom 975 

Sargon  tooli  Samaria 721 

Nebuchadnezzar  destroyed  Jerusalem 588 

Titus  toolc  Jerusalem a.  d.  70 


JERUSALEM    IN   E.\RLY   TIMES. 


MEDIA  AND  PERSIA 


1.    THE    POLITICAL    HISTORY. 

The  Medes  and  Persians,  two  Aryan  nations,  were 
early  conquered  by  the  Assyrians.  The  Medes  were  the  first 
to  assert  their  independence.  Under  Cyaxares  they  de- 
stroyed Nineveh  (625  b.  c.)  and  divided  Assyria  between 
themselves  and  the  Babylonians,  who  had  aided  them  in 
this  conquest  (p.  47).  During  the  reign  of  his  successor, 
Asty'ages,  the  Persian  king  Cambyses  acknowledged  the 
Median  monarch  for  his  superior,  and  left  his  son  Cyrus 
at  that  court  as  a  hostage. 

Cyrus*   was  bold,   athletic   and    ambitious,   and   soon 


Geographical  Qteesfto»s.— Bound  ancient  Persia.  Media.  Where  was  Per- 
sepolis  ?  Susa  ?  Acbatana  ?  Name  the  countries  of  Asia  Minor.  Where  was  Lydia  ? 
The  Isle  of  Khodes  ?  Point  out  Alexander's  march  East  and  his  return.  What  was 
the  extent  of  the  Persian  Empire. at  that  time  ? 


*  Cyrus  was  the  grandson  of  Asty'ages.  According  to  the  legend,  that  king,  about 
the  time  Cyrus  was  born,  had  a  dream,  which  the  magi  interpreted  to  mean  that 
the  child  would  live  to  conquer  all  Asia.  In  alarm,  Astyages  commanded  an  officer 
named  Harpagus  to  put  him  to  death  ;  but  Harpagus,  instead,  gave  the  infant  to  a 
herdsman  to  expose  upon  a  desolate  mountain.  The  herdsman,  struck  with  pity, 
took  the  child  home  and  brought  him  up  as  his  own  son.  One  day,  Cyrus,  having 
been  chosen  in  play  by  his  companions  to  be  their  king,  flogged  a  disobedient  boy- 
subject.  The  father  complained  to  Astyages,  who  summoned  Cyrus  to  appear  before 
him.  There  the  noble  features  and  equally  noble  replies  "  of  the  son  of  the  cowherd  " 
revealed  his  royal  birth.  Astyages  sent  for  Harpagus,  and,  learning  the  truth, 
quietly  directed  him  to  send  his  son  to  be  a  companion  for  the  young  prince,  and 
himself  to  attend  a  banquet  at  the  palace.  At  this  feast  Harpagus  was  served  with 
the  roasted  flesh  of  his  own  son.  As  a  climax,  the  brulal  Astyages  offered  him  a 
basket,  on  opening  which  he  discovered  his  boy's  head  aud  limbs.    The  horrified 


558  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY. 


89 


came  to  despise  the  now  effeminate  Medes.     Arousing  his 
warlike  countrymen  to  revolt,  he  not  only  achieved  their 

independence,  but  con- 
quered Media  and  estab- 
lished the  Medo-Persian, 
the  second  great  empire  of 
western  Asia.  His  reign 
was  a  succession  of  wars 
and  conquests.  He  de- 
feated Croesus,*  king  of 
Lydia,  thus  adding  to  his 
dominions  all  Asia  Minor 
west  of  the  Halys.  He 
captured  Babylon  (p.  51) 
and  overthrew  the  Assyrian 
Empire.  With  the  fall  of 
Babylon  the  fabric  of 
Semitic  grandeur  was  shat- 
tered, the  Great  City  be- 
came *'an  astonishment 
and  a  hissing"  {Jeremiah 
li.  37),  and  Persia  took 
the  lead  in  all  western 
Asia.  When  Cyrus  died,  his  kingdom  reached  from  the 
borders  of  Macedonia  to  the  banks  of  the  Indus. 


A   BAS-KELIEF   OF   CYRUS. 


father  dared  not  show  any  emotion  (p.  92),  and  on  the  king  asking  him  how  he  liked 
the  meat  he  had  eaten,  calmly  replied  that  "  what  pleased  his  monarch  pleased  him." 
But  the  day  of  revenge  soon  came.  Harpagus  roused  Cyrus  to  revolt,  and  having  in 
the  first  battle  betrayed  the  Median  army  to  the  young  prince,  became  henceforth  his 
most  devoted  general. 

*  Croesus  was  so  rich  that  his  name  has  become  proverbial.  He  was  now  doomed 
to  die.  Mounting  the  funeral  pile,  he  exclaimed.  "  Solon  !  Solon  ! "  Cyrus,  won- 
dering, inquired  the  reason.  The  captive  replied,  that  the  Greek  philosopher  (p.  122) 
had  once  visited  him  and  made  light  of  his  riches,  saying  that  "no  man  should  be 
judged  happy  until  the  manner  of  his  death  was  known."  Cyrus,  struck  by  the 
reply,  released  Croesus  and  made  him  a  confidential  friend. 


90 


MEDIA     AND     PERSIA. 


[529-522  B.  c. 


Cambyses  (529  b.  c),  his  son,  succeeded  to  the  throne. 
He  conquered  Egypt  (p.  19)  in  a  single  battle,  using,  it  is 

said,  the  stratagem  of 
placing  before  his 
army  cats,  dogs,  and 
other  sacred  animals 
which  the  Egyptians 
feared  to  harm.  Af- 
ter   this    victory    he 


CRGESUS  ON  THE   FUNERAL   PYRE   (FROM   AN   ANCIENT  VASE). 


invaded  Ethiopia,  but  his  army  nearly  perished  in  the  burn- 
ing sands  of  the  desert.  Returning  to  Memphis,  he  acted 
the  madman  *  till  his  death  (522  B.  c). 

*  He  had  already  secretly  murdered  his  brother  Smerdis.  He  now  attempted  to 
marry  his  sister,  and  ended  by  killing  her.  One  day  Cambyses  asked  Prexaspcs 
what  the  Persians  thought  of  him.  The  nobleman  replied,  "  They  praise  you  greatly 
in  all  things  except  they  think  you  love  wine."  Whereupon  the  king,  to  prove  the 
steadiness  of  his  nerves,  aimed  an  arrow  at  the  nobleman's  son,  who  was  standing 
in  the  vestibule,  and  pierced  him  through  the  heart.  According  to  the  Greek  story, 
Cambyses,  in  a  fit  of  passion  slew  the  Apis,  but  a  recently-discovered  inscription 


521-486  B.C.]  THE     CIVILIZATION-.  91 

Darius  I.  (521)  *  organized  the  vast  kingdom  which 
Cyrus  had  conquered.  There  were  twenty-three  provinces, 
all  restless  and  eager  to  be  free.  Insurrections  were  there- 
fore frequent.  Darius  divided  the  empire  into  twenty  great 
"satrapies,"  each  governed  by  a  satrap.  These  officers  were 
appointed  by  the  king,  and  were  amenable  to  him  alone. 
The  slightest  suspicion  of  treachery  was  the  signal  for  their 
instant  death.  To  secure  prompt  communication  between 
the  monarch  and  distant  portions  of  the  empire,  royal  roads 
were  established  with  couriers  to  be  relieved  by  one  another 
at  the  end  of  each  day's  jou^'ney.  Every  satrapy  paid  a 
regular  tribute  but  retained  its  native  king,  laws  and  reli- 
gion.f    The  capital  of  the  empire  was  fixed  at  Susa. 

The  Later  History  of  Persia  presents  the  usual  charac- 
teristics of  oriental  despotisms.  There  were  scenes  of  cruelty, 
treachery  and  fraud.  Brothers  murdered  by  brothers,  queens 
slaying  their  rivals,  and  eunuchs  bartering  the  throne,  assas- 
sinating the  sovereign,  and  in  turn  perishing  by  justice  or 
treachery,  were  merely  ordinary  events.  The  only  interest 
to  us  clusters  about  the  point  where  Persian  history  touches 
that  of  Greece  (p.  125),  until  at  last  the  empire  itself  crum- 
bled before  the  triumphant  advance  of  Alexander. 


shows  that  this  Apis  died  in  524  B.  c,  and  was  buried  under  the  auspices  of  the  Great 
King  Cambyses  himself! 

*  During  the  absence  of  Cambyses  in  Egypt,  the  magi  made  one  Gomates  king, 
representing  him  to  be  Smerdis,  the  son  of  Cyrus  (note,  p.  90).  Darius  now  con- 
spired with  six  otlier  nobles,  and  slew  the  "False  Smerdis."  The  seven  noblemen 
agreed  to  ride  out  at  sunrise  of  the  following  day,  and  that  he  whose  horse  first 
neighed  should  become  king.  Darius  secured  the  prize,  Herodotus  says,  by  a  trick 
of  his  groom  in  placing,  near  where  they  were  to  pass,  a  horse  well  known  to  his 
master's  hors». 

t  The  satraps  rivalled  the  king  himself  in  the  magnificence  of  their  courts.  Each 
tad  several  palaces  with  pleasure-gardens  or  "paradises,"  as  they  called  them, 
attached.  The  income  of  the  satrap  of  Babylon  is  said  to  have  been  four  bushels  of 
eilver  coin  per  day,  while  his  stables  contained  17,0C0  studs,  and  his  numerous  dogs 
required  the  tribute  of  four  towoi^  for  their  support 


92  MEDIA     AKr>     PERSIA. 


2.    THE    CIYILIZATION. 

Society. — The  King,  as  in  Assyria  and  ^^abylonia,  held  at  his 
disposal  the  lives,  liberties  and  property  of  his  people.  He  was 
bound  by  the  national  customs  as  closely  as  his  meanest  subject,  but 
otherwise  his  will  was  absolute.  His  command,  once  given,  could 
not  be  revoked  even  by  himself;  hence  arose  the  phrase,  "Un- 
changeable as  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians."  His  every 
caprice  was  accepted  without  question.  If  he  chose,  in  pure  wan- 
tonness, to  shoot  an  innocent  boy  before  the  eyes  of  his  father,  the 
parent,  so  far  from  expressing  horror  at  the  crime,  would  praise  his 
skillful  archery ;  and  offenders,  bastinadoed  by  royal  order,  declared 
themselves  delighted  that  his  majesty  had  condescended  to  notice 
them  even  with  his  displeasure.  The  king  was  the  state.  If  he 
fell  in  battle,  all  was  lost ;  if  he  were  saved,  it  outweighed  every 
calamity. 

The  Seven  Princes  (Esther  i.  14 ;  Ezra  vii.  14)  were  grandees  next 
to  the  king.  One  was  of  the  royal  family ;  the  others  were  chiefs 
of  the  six  great  houses  from  which  the  king  was  legally  bound  to 
choose  his  legitimate  wives.  No  one  except  the  Seven  Princes 
could  approach  the  royal  person  unless  introduced  by  a  court 
usher.  They  sat  beside  the  king  at  public  festivals,  entered  his 
apartment  at  their  pleasure,  and  gave  him  advice  on  public  and 
private  matters. 

The  Court  vfus  principally  composed  of  magi  (p.  97),  who  judged 
all  moral  and  civil  offences. 

The  People  seem  to  have  been  divided  into  two  general  classes, 
those  who  lived  in  towns  and  cities  and  who  generally  cultivated  the 
soil,  and  the  roving  or  pastoral  tribes.  Social  grades  were  strongly 
marked,  and  the  court  etiquette  was  aped  among  all  classes,  special 
modes  of  salutation  being  prescribed  for  a  man's  superior,  his  equal, 
and  his  inferior.  Trade  and  commerce  were  beld  in  great  contempt, 
and  the  rich  boasted  that  they  neither  bought  nor  sold. 

Writing. —  Cuneiform  Letters. — The  Persian  characters  were 
formed  much  more  simply  than  the  Assyrian.  They  were,  so  far 
as  now  known,  less  than  forty  in  number,  and  were  written  from 
left  to  right.  For  public  documents  the  rock  and  chisel  were  used ; 
for  private,  prepared  skin  and  the  pen.  Clay-tablets  seem  never  to 
have  been  employed,  and  papyrus  brought  from  Egypt  was  too 
costly.  As  the  cuneiform  letters  are  illy  adapted  to  writing  on 
parchment,  it  is  probable  that  some  cursive  characters  were  also  in 


THE    CIVILIZATION.  93 

use,  though  none  have  as  yet  been  discovered.  The  Persian  writing 
which  has  survived  is  almost  entirely  on  stone,  either  upon  the 
mountain  side  or  on  buildings,  tablets,  vases,  and  signet-cylinders. 

Science  and  Literature.— To  science,  the  Persians  contributed 
absolutely  nothing.  They  had  fancy,  imagination,  and  a  relish  for 
poetry  and  art,  but  they  were  too  averse  to  study  to  produce  any- 
thing which  required  patient  and  laborious  researcji.  In  this  respect 
they  furnish  a  striking  contrast  to  the  Babylonians. 

The  Avesta  or  Sacred  Text,  written  in  Zend,  the  ancient  idiom 
of  Bactria,  is  all  that  remains  to  us  of  their  literature.  It  is  com- 
posed of  eight  distinct  parts  or  books,  compiled  from  various  older 
works  which  have  been  lost,  and  purports  to  be  a  revelation  made 
by  Ormazd  (p.  98)  to  Zoroaster,*  the  founder  of  the  Persian  religion. 
The  principal  books  are  the  Vendidad  and  the  Yaqng. :  the  former 
contains  a  moral  and  ceremonial  code  somewhat  corresponding  to 
the  Hebrew  Pentateuch ;  the  latter  consists  of  prayers,  hymns,  etc., 
for  use  during  sacrifice.  The  contents  of  the  Zend-Avesta  date  from 
various  ages,  and  portions  were  probably  handed  down  by  oral  tra- 
dition for  hundreds  of  years  before  being  committed  to  writing. 

From  the  Zend-Avesta. 

"Zoroaster  asked  Ahura  Mazda  :  '  Ahura  Mazda,  holiest  spirit,  creator  of  all  exist- 
ent worlds,  the  truth  loving  1  What  was,  O  Ahura  Mazda,  the  word  existing  before 
the  heaven,  before  the  water,  before  the  earth,  before  the  cow,  before  the  tree,  before 
the  fire,  the  son  of  Ahura  Mazda,  before  man  the  truthful,  before  the  Devas  and  car- 
nivorous beasts,  before  the  whole  existing  universe,  before  every  good  thing  created 
by  Ahura  Mazda  and  springing  from  truth  ? ' 

Then  answered  Ahura  Mazda  :  '  It  was  the  All  of  the  creative  word,  most  holy 
Zoroaster.  I  will  teach  It  thee.  Existing  before  the  heaven,  before  the  water,  before 
the  earth,'  etc.  (as  before). 

'  Such  is  the  All  of  the  Creative  Word,  most  holy  Zoroaster,  that  even  when 
neither  pronounced,  nor  recited,  it  is  worth  one  hundred  other  proceeding  prayers, 

*  Zoroaster  was  a  reformer  who  lived  in  Bactria,  probably  about  1500  b.  c,  possibly 
earlier.  Little  is  known  of  his  actual  history.  The  legends  ascribe  to  him  a  seclu- 
sion of  twenty  years  in  a  mountain  cave,  where  he  received  his  doctrines  direct  from 
Ormazd.  His  tenets,  though  overlaid  by  superstition,  were  remarkably  pure  and 
noble,  and  of  all  the  ancient  creeds  approach  the  nearest  to  the  inspired  Hebrew 
faith.  Their  mutual  hatred  of  idolatry  formed  a  bond  of  sympathy  between  the 
early  Persians  and  the  Jews,  Ormazd  and  Jehovah  being  recognized  as  the  same 
Lord  GoA{Isaiah  xliv.  28;  Ezra  i.  2,  3).  At  the  time  of  the  Persian  conquest  by 
Alexander,  the  Zoroastrian  books  were  said  to  number  twenty-one  volumes.  During 
the  five  hundred  years  of  foreign  rule  they  were  scattered  and  neglected.  Under  the 
Sassanian  kings  (-226-651  a.  d.)  the  remaining  fragments  were  carefully  collected  and 
translated,  with  explanatory  notes,  into  the  literary  language  of  the  day.  This  trans- 
lation was  called  Avesta-u-Zend  (text  and  comments).  By  some  mistake  the  word 
"  Zend"  was  applied  to  the  original  language  of  the  text,  and  is  now  generally  used 
in  that  sense,  hence  "  Zend-Avesta." 


94  MEDIA    AND     PERSIA. 

neither  pronounced,  nor  recited,  nor  chanted.  And  he,  most  holy  Zoroaster,  who  in 
this  existing  world  remembers  the  All  of  the  Creative  Word,  utters  it  when  remem- 
bered, chants  it  when  uttered,  celebrates  when  chanted,  his  soul  will  1  thrice  lead 
across  the  bridge  to  a  better  world,  a  better  existence,  better  truth,  better  days. 
I  pronounced  this  speech  containing  the  Word,  and  it  accomplished  the  creation  of 
Heaven,  before  the  creation  of  the  water,  of  the  earth,  of  the  tree,  of  the  four-footed 
beast,  before  the  birth  of  the  truthful,  two-legged  man.'  " 

A  Hymn.—'-'^  We  worship  Ahura  Mazda,  the  pure,  the  master  of  purity. 

We  praise  all  good,  thoughts,  all  good  words,  all  good  deeds  which  are  or  shall 
be  ;  and  we  likewise  keep  clean  and  pure  all  that  is  good. 

O  Ahura  Mazda,  thou  true,  happy  being  1  We  strive  to  think,  to  speak,  and  to 
do  only  such  actions  as  may  be  best  fitted  to  promote  the  two  lives  "  (i.  e.,  the  life  of 
the  body  and  the  life  of  the  soul). 

We  beseech  the  spirit  of  earth  for  the  sake  of  these  our  beet  works  (i.  e.,  agricul- 
ture) to  grant  us  beautiful  and  fertile  fields,  to  the  believer  as  well  as  to  the  unbe- 
liever, to  him  who  has  riches  as  well  as  to  him  who  has  no  possessions." 

Education.— "  To  ride,  to  draw  the  bow,  and  to  speak  the 
truth,"  were  the  great  ends  of  Persian  education.  When  a  boy  was 
five  years  old  his  training  began.  He  was  made  to  rise  before  dawn, 
and  practice  his  exercises  in  running,  slinging  stones,  and  the  use 
of  the  bow  and  javelin.  He  made  long  marches,  exposed  to  all 
weathers,  and  sleeping  in  the  open  air.  That  he  might  learn  to 
endure  hunger,  he  was  sometimes  given  but  one  meal  in  two  days. 
When  he  was  seven  years  old,  he  was  taught  to  ride  and  hunt,  in- 
cluding the  ability  to  jump  on  and  off  his  horse,  to  shoot  the  bow 
and  to  use  the  javelin,  all  with  his  steed  at  full  gallop.  At  the  age 
of  fifteen,  he  became  a  soldier.  Books  and  reading  seem  to  have 
formed  no  part  of  an  ordinary  Persian  education.  The  king  himself 
was  no  exception.  His  scribes  learned  his  wishes,  and  then  wrote 
his  letters,  edicts,  etc.,  affixing  the  royal  seal  without  calling  upon 
him  even  to  sign  his  name.* 

Monuments  and  Art. — As  the  followers  of  Zoroaster  wor- 
shipped in  the  open  air,  we  need  not  look  in  Persia  for  temples,  but 
must  content  ourselves  with  palaces  and  tombs.  The  palaces  at  Per- 
sepolist  were  as  magnificent  as  those  at  Nineveh  and  Babylon  had 
been,  though  different  in  style  and  architecture.  Like  them  they  were 
built  on  a  high  platform,  but  for  the  crude  or  burnt  brick  of  Assyria 

*  "  Occasionally,  to  beguile  weary  hours,  a  monarch  may  have  had  the  '  Book  of 
the  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Persia  and  Media '  read  before  him ;  but  the  kings 
themselves  never  opened  a  book  or  studied  any  branch  of  science  or  learning."  — 
Sawlinson. 

t  Remains  of  a  large  palace  have  been  discovered  at  Susa,  which  is  supposed  to 
be  the  identical  one  described  in  the  Book  of  Esther.  On  the  bases  of  the  pillars  it 
is  stated  that  the  palace  was  erected  by  Darius  and  Xerxes,  but  repaired  by  Artaxerxes 
Memnon,  who  added  the  inscriptions. 


THE     CIVILIZATION, 


95 


and  Babylon  were  substituted  enonnous  blocks  of  hewn  stone,*  fast- 
ened with  iron  clamps.  The  platform  was  terraced,  and  the  broad, 
gently  sloping,  and  elaborately-sculptured  staircases,  wide  enough  to 
allow  ten  horsemen  to  ride  abreast,  were  exceedingly  grand  and  im- 
posing. The  subjects  of  sculpture  were  much  like  those  in  Assyria : 
the  king  in  combat  with  mythical  monsters,  or  seated  on  his  throne 
surrounded  by  his  attendants ;  long  processions  of  royal  guards,  or 
of  captives  bringing  tribute;  and  symbolical  combats  between  bulls 


('    Y  ^F     "'^^  '        /^ 1 ^"^  "'1^'  ' 


^ 


V- 1.  i 


PHi. 


PERSIAN  SUBJECTS   BRINGING  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  KING. 

and  lions.  Colossal  winged  and  human-headed  bulls,  also  copied 
from  Assyria,  guarded  the  palace  portals.  For  effect,  the  Persians 
seem  to  have  depended  upon  elegance  of  form,  richness  of  material, 
and  splendor  of  coloring,  rather  than  upon  immense  size,  as  did  the 
Egyptians  and  Babylonians.  The  "  Great  Hall  of  Xerxes,"  however, 
was  larger  than  the  "  Great  Hall  of  Karnak,"  and  in  proporrion  and 
design  far  surpassed  anything  in  Assyria.  What  enameled  brick 
was  to  Babylon,  and  alabaster  sculpture  to  Assyria,  that  the  por- 
tico and  pillar  were  to  Persia.  Forests  of  graceful  columns,  over 
sixty  feet  high,  with  elegantly-carved  bases  and  capitals,  rose  in  hall 
and  colonnade,  between  which  were  magnificent  hangings,  white, 
*  Att  iUeft  Ijorrowed  from  the  conquered  Egyptians. 


96 


MEDIA     AND     PERSIA 


green,  and  violet,  "  fastened  with  cords  of  fine  linen  and  purple  to 
silver  rings  and  pillars  of  marble."  {Esther  i.  7.)  Pavements  "  of 
red,  blue,  white,  and  black  marble,"  with  carpets  from  Sardis  spread 
for  the  king  to  walk  upon  ;  walls  covered  with  plates  of  gold  and 
silver;  the  golden  throne  of  the  king,  under  an  embroidered  canopy, 
supported  by  pillars  of  gold  inlaid  with  precious  stones;  a  golden 
palm-tree ;  gold  and  silver  couches ;  and  over  the  royal  bed  a  golden 
vine,  each  grape  being  a  precious  stone  of  enormous  value,  are  all 
recorded  as  appurtenances  to  the  royal  palace.  The  Persian  king, 
like  the  Egyptian,  attended  during  his  lifetime  to  the  building  of 
bis  last  resting-place.     The  most  remarkable  of  the  Persian  tombs 

is    that   of    Cyrus   at    Pasargadse, 
_^  -  -  ^-  which    has  been   called  "a  house 

^^  ^  --^^^         upon   a  pedestal."     Upon  a  pyra- 

midal base  made  of  huge  blocks  of 
beautiful  white  marble  was  erected  a 


TOMB   OF   CYRUS   AT   PASARGAD^. 


with  a  stone  roof.  Here,  in  a  small 
chamber  entered  by  a  low  and  nar- 
row door,  were  deposited  in  a  golden 
coffin  the  remains  of  the  great  con- 
queror. A  colonriade  of  twenty-four  pillars,  whose  broken  shafts 
are  still  seen,  seems  to  have  inclosed  the  sacred  spot.  With  this  ex- 
ception, all  the  royal  sepulchres  that  remain  are  rock-tombs,  similar 
in  situation  to  those  we  noticed  in  Egypt.  Unlike  those,  however, 
they  were  made  conspicuous,  as  if  intended  to  catch  the  eye  of  an 
observer  who  might  glance  high  up  the  mountain-side.  A  spot 
difficult  of  approach  having  been  chosen, 
a  chamber  with  one  or  more  recesses  was 
excavated  in  the  solid  rock,  and  marked 
by  a  porticoed  and  sculptured  front  some- 
|:|iMPiii||M||^^  what    in    the    shape    of   a    Greek    cross. 

'""  The  sarcophagi  were  cut  m  the  rock-floor 

of  the  recesses,  and  were  covered  by  stone 
slabs. 

Persian  Architecture  is  distinguished  for 
simplicity  and  regularity,  in  most  buildings 
one-half  being  the  exact  duplicate  of  the 
other.  Although  many  ideas  were  bor- 
rowed from  the  nations  we  have  already 
considered,  Persian  art,  in  its  best  features,  such  as  the  grand 
sculptured   staircases   and    the   vast    groves   of  tall   and   slender 


THE     GREAT    STAIRCASE   AT 
PERSEPOLIS. 


THE     MANi^ERS     AKD     CUSTOMS.  97 

pillars,*  with  their  peculiar  ornamentation,  was  strikingly  original. 
The  Persian  fancy  seems  to  have  run  toward  the  grotesque  and 
monstrous.  When  copying  nature,  the  drawing  of  animals  was 
much  superior  to  that  of  the  human  form.  Statuary  was  not 
attempted. 

The  Practical  Arts  and  Inventions  were  almost  entirely 
wanting.  No  enameling,  no  pottery,  no  metal  castings,  no  wooden 
or  ivory  carvings  were  made.  A  few  spear  and  arrow-heads,  coins, 
and  gem-cylinders  are  all  the  small  objects  which  have  been  dis- 
covered among  the  ruins.  Persia  thus  presents  a  marked  contrast 
to  the  other  nations  we  have  been  studying.  It  was,  indeed,  the 
boast  of  the  Persians  that  they  needed  not  to  toil,  since  by  their 
skill  in  arms  they  could  command  every  foreign  production.  "  The 
carpets  of  Babylon  and  Sardis,  the  shawls  of  Kashmir  and  India,  the 
fine  linen  of  Borsippa  and  Egypt,  the  ornamental  metal-work  of 
Greece,  the  coverlets  of  Damascus,  the  muslins  of  Babylonia,  and  the 
multiform  manufactures  of  the  Phoenician  towns  "  poured  continu- 
ally into  Persia  as  tributes,  gifts,  or  merchandise,  and  left  among  the 
native  population  no  ambition  for  home-industries. 


3.    THE    MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

General  Character. — The  Persian  was  keen-witted  and  ingeni- 
ous, generous,  warm-hearted,  hospitable,  and  courageous.  He  was 
bold  and  dashing  in  war  ;  sparkling,  vivacious,  and  given  to  repartee 
in  social  life.  Except  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  where  no  sadness 
was  allowed,  he  never  checked  the  expression  of  his  emotions,  but 
childishly,  regardless  of  all  spectators,  laughed  and  shouted  when 
pleased,  or  wept  and  shrieked  when  in  sorrow.  In  this  he  was  very 
unlike  the  Babylonian  gentleman,  who  studied  calmness  and  repose 
of  manner.  He  was  self-indulgent  and  luxurious,  but  chary  of  debt. 
The  early  Persians  were  remarkable  for  truthfulness,  lying  being 
abhorred  as  the  special  characteristic  of  the  evil  spirit. 

Religion.— That  of  the  Persians  was  Mazdeism,  from  Ahura 
Mazda  (Ormazd),  their  great  and  good  God  ;  it  was  also  called  Zoroas- 
trianism,  after  its  founder  (p.  93).  That  of  the  Medes  was  Magism, 
so  named  from  the  priests,  who  were  of  a  caste  called  Magi. 

Mazdeism  taught  the  existence  of  two  great  principles — one  good, 
the  other  evil,  which  were  in  perpetual  and  eternal  conflict. 

*  In  Assjrria  the  pillar  was  almost  unknown,  while  in  Egypt  it  was  twice  as  broad 
in  proportion  to  its  height  as  in  Persia. 

5 


98 


MEDIA     AND     PERSIA 


Ormazd  was  the  "  All-perfect,  all-powerful,  all- wise,  all-beautiful, 
all-pure  ;  sole  source  of  true  knowledge,  of  real  happiness  ;  him  wlio 
hath  created  us,  him  who  sustains  us,  the  wisest  of  all  intelligences." 
— {Tagna.)  Having  created  the  earth,  he  placed  man  thereon  to  pre- 
serve it.    He  was  represented  by  the  sun,  fire,  and  light. 


SYMBOL  OF   ORMAZD. 
(Copied  by  the  Persians  from  that  of  the  Assyrian  god  Asshur.) 


Ahriman  was  the  author  of  evil  and  death,  causing  sin  in  man  and 
barrenness  upon  the  earth.  Hence  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  was  con- 
sidered a  religious  duty,  as  promoting  the  interests  of  Ormazd  and 
defeating  the  malice  of  his  opposer.  Those  who  yielded  to  the  seduc- 
tions of  Ahriman  were  unable  to  cross  the  terrible  bridge  to  which  all 
souls  were  conducted  the  third  night  after  death  ;  they  fell  into  the 
gulf  below,  where  they  were  forced  to  live  in  utter  darkness  and  feed 
on  poisoned  banquets.  The  good  were  assisted  across  the  bridge  by 
an  angel,  who  led  them  to  golden  thrones  in  the  eternal  abode  of  hap- 
piness. Thus  this  religion,  like  the  Egyptian,  contained  the  doctrine 
of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  of  future  reward  and  punishment. 
Ormazd  and  Ahriman  had  each  his  councillors  and  emissaries,  but  they 
were  simply  genii  or  spirits,  and  not  independent  gods,  like  the  lesser 
deities  of  the  Egyptians  and  Assyrians. 

Zoroaatrian  Worship  consisted  mainly  in  prayer  and  praises  to 
Ormazd  and  his  court,  the  recital  of  Gathas  or  hymns,  and  the  per- 
formance of  the  Homa  ceremony.  In  the  last,  during  the  recitation 
of  certain  prayers,  the  priests  extracted  the  juice  of  a  plant  called 
homa,  formally  presenting  the  liquid  to  the  sacrificial  fire,  after  which 
a  small  portion  was  drunk  by  one  of  the  priests  and  the  remainder 
by  the  worshippers.  This  ceremony  was  supposed  by  some  mystic 
force  to  secure  the  favor  of  Heaven,  and,  by  the  curative  power  of 
the  plant,  directly  to  bless  the  participant. 

Magism  taught  not  only  the  worship  of  Ormazd,  but  also  that  of 
Ahriman,  who  under  another  name  was  the  serpent-god  of  the  Tura- 
nians. In  Media,  Ahriman  was  the  principal  object  of  adoration, 
since  a  good  god,  so  it  was  reasoned,  would  not  hurt  men,  but  an  evil 


THE     MA7!iKERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  99 

one  must  be  appeased  by  honor  and  sacrifice.  Sorcery  and  incanta- 
tions, wMcli  were  expressly  forbidden  by  Zoroaster,  were  the  out- 
growth of  the  Median  faith. 

The  Magi  apparently  held  their  office  by  hereditary  succession.  In 
time,  Magismand  Mazdeism  became  so  assimilated  that  the  Magi  were 
accepted  as  the  national  priests  of  Persia.  As  we  have  seen  the  Egyp- 
tian religion  characterized  by  animal  and  sun  worship,  and  the  Chal- 
deo-Assyrian  by  that  of  the  sun,  moon  and  planets,  so  we  find  the 
Persian  distinguished  by  the  worship_  of  the  elements.  The  sun,  fire, 
air,  earth  and  water  were  all  objects  of  adoration  and  sacrifice.  On 
lofty  heights,  whence  they  could  be  seen  from  afar,  stood  the  fire- 
altars,  crowned  by  the  sacred  flame,  believed  to  have  been  kindled 
from  Heaven,  and  never  suffered  to  expire.  It  was  guarded  by  the 
Magi,  who  so  jealously  kept  its  purity  that  to  blow  upon  it  with  the 
breath  was  a  capital  offence.  By  these  holy  fires,  flickering  on  lonely 
mountain-topg,  the  Magi,  clad  in  white  robes  and  with  half  concealed 
faces,  chanted  day  after  day  their  weird  incantations,  and,  myste- 
riously waving  before  the  awe-stricken  spectators  a  bundle  of  tamarisk 
twigs  (divining-rods),  muttered  their  pretended  prophecies. 

Sacrifice  was  not  offered  at  the  altar  of  the  eternal  flame,  but  on  fires 
lighted  from  it,  a  horse  being  the  favorite  victim.  A  small  part  of 
the  fat  having  been  consumed  by  the  fire,  and  the  soul  of  the  animal 
having  been,  according  to  the  Magi,  accepted  by  the  god,  the  body  was 
cut  into  joints,  boiled  and  eaten,  or  sold  by  the  worshippers.  Sacri- 
fices to  water  were  offered  by  the  side  of  lakes,  rivers  and  fountains, 
care  being  taken  that  not  a  drop  of  blood  should  touch  the  sacred 
element.  No  refuse  was  allowed  to  be  cast  into  a  river,  nor  was  it 
even  lawful  to  wash  the  hands  in  a  stream. — The  worship  of  these 
elements  rendered  the  disposal  of  the  dead  a  difficult  matter.  They 
could  not  be  burnt,  for  that  would  pollute  fire  ;  nor  thrown  into  the 
river,  for  that  would  defile  water  ;  nor  buried  in  the  ground,  for  that 
would  corrupt  earth.  The  Magi  solved  the  problem  by  giving  their 
own  dead  to  be  devoured  by  beasts  of  prey.  The  people  revolted  from 
this,  and  encased  the  lifeless  bodies  of  their  friends  in  a  coating  of 
wax  ;  having  made  this  concession  to  the  sacred  earth,  they  ventured 
to  bury  their  dead  in  its  bosom. 

Domestic  Life. — The  early  Persians  were  noted  for  their  simple 
diet.  They  ate  but  one  meal  a  day  and  drank  only  water.  With 
their  successes  their  habits  changed.  They  still  ate  only  one  meal 
each  day,  but  it  began  early  and  lasted  till  night.  Water  gave  place 
to  wine,  and  each  man  prided  himself  on  the  quantity  he  could  drink. 
Drunkenness,  at  last,  became  a  sort  of  duty.  Every  serious  family- 
council  ended  in  a  debauch,  and  once  a  year,  at  the  feast  of  Mithras, 
part  of  the  royal  display  was  the  intoxication  of  the  king.     Love  of 


100 


MEDIA     AND     PERSIA. 


ORDINARY    PERSIAN 
COSTUME. 


dress  increased,  and  to  the  purple  or  flowered  robes  and  tunics,  em- 
broidered trousers,  tiaras  and  shoes  of  their  Median  predecessors,  the 
Persians  now  added  the  hitherto  unwonted  fineries  of  gloves  and 
stockings.  They  wore  massive  gold  collars  and  bracelets,  and  studded 
the  golden  sheaths  and  handles  of  their  swords  and  daggers  with  gems. 
They  not  only  drank  wine  from  gold  and  silver 
cups  as  did  their  fallen  neighbors, the  Babylonians, 
but  they  plated  and  inlaid  the  tables  themselves 
with  the  precious  metals.  Even  the  horses  felt  the 
growing  extravagance  and  champed  bits  made  of 
gold  instead  of  bronze.  Every  rich  man's  house 
was  crowded  with  servants,  each  confining  himself 
to  a  single  duty.  Not  the  least  of  these  were  the 
"adorners,"  who  applied  cosmetics  to  their  mas- 
ter's face  and  hands,  colored  his  eyelids,  curled  his 
hair  and  beard  and  adjusted  his  wig.  The  perfume- 
bearer,  who  was  an  indispensable  valet,  took  charge 
of  the  perfumes  and  scented  ointments,  a  choice  se- 
lection of  which  was  a  Persian  gentleman's  pride. 
Women  were  kept  secluded  in  their  own  apartments,  called  the 
harem  or  seraglio,  and  were  allowed  no  communication  with  the  other 
sex.*  So  rigid  was  etiquette  in  this  respect, 
that  a  Persian  wife  might  not  even  see  her  own 
father  or  brother.  When  she  rode,  her  litter 
was  closely  curtained,  yet  even  then  it  was  a 
capital  offence  for  a  man  simply  to  pass  a  royal 
litter  in  the  street.f 

17i6  King's  Household  numbered  15,000  per- 
sons. The  titles  of  some  of  his  servants  reveal 
the  despotism  and  dangers  of  the  times.  Such 
were  his  "  Eyes  "  and  "  Ears,"  who  were  virtually 
spies  and  detectives  ;  and  his  "  Tasters,"  who 
tried  every  dish  set  before  him,  to  prove  it  were 
not  poisoned.  A  monarch  who  held  the  life  of 
his  subjects  so  lightly  as  did  the  Persian  kings, 
might  well  be  on  the  alert  for  treachery  and 
conspiracy  against  himself.  Hence,  the  court 
customs  and  etiquette  were  extremely  rigorous. 

ANCIENT     PERSIAN  -.?■..,  .  P  , 

SILVER  COIN.  Even  to  touch  the  king  s  carpet  m  crossing  the 


*  Even  at  the  present  day  it  is  considered  a  gross  indecorum  to  ask  a  Persian 
after  the  health  of  his  wife. 

t  It  is  curious  to  notice  that  the  same  custom  obtained  in  "Russia  a  few  centuries 
ago.  In  1674,  two  chamberlains  were  deprived  of  iheir  ofllces  for  having  accidentally 
met  the  carriage  of  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  101 

courts  was  a  grave  offence  ;  and  to  come  into  his  chamber  unan- 
nounced, unless  the  royal  sceptre  was  ex"tei<dt;d  ih  pardon,  Va^  Instant 
death  {Esther  vii.).  Every  courtier  prostra-fe^  himself  In  th(3  'attitude 
of  worship  on  entering  the  royal  pres'eiice,  and  kept  his  han^^s  hidden 
in  his  sleeve  during  ihe  entire  intervie>\^  ^Ky^r  tte^kiiig  Was- net 
exempt  from  restrictions  of  etiquette.  He  was  required  to  live  in 
seclusion  ;  never  to  go  on  foot  beyond  the  palace  walls ;  and  never  to 
revoke  an  order  or  draw  back  from  a  promise,  however  he  might  desire 
it.  He  took  his  meals  alone,  excepting  occasionally,  when  he  might 
have  the  queen  and  one  or  two  of  his  children  for  company.  When 
he  gave  a  great  banquet  his  guests  were  divided  into  two  classes  ;  the 
lower  were  entertained  in  an  outer  court,  and  the  higher,  in  a  chamber 
next  his  own,  where  he  could  see  them  through  the  curtain  which 
screened  himself.  Guests  were  assigned  a  certain  amount  of  food ; 
the  greater  the  number  of  dishes,  the  higher  the  honor  conferred  ; 
what  was  left  on  their  plates  they  were  at  liberty  to  take  home  to 
their  families.  Sometimes  at  a  "Banquet  of  Wine,"  a  select  number 
were  allowed  to  drink  in  the  royal  presence,  but  not  of  the  same  wine 
or  on  the  same  terms  with  the  king ;  he  reclined  on  a  golden-footed 
couch  and  sipped  the  costly  wine  of  Helbon  ;  they  were  seated  on  the 
floor,  and  w^ere  served  a  cheaper  beverage. 

The  Persians  in  War. —  Weapons,  etc. — The  Persian  footman 
fought  with  bow  and  arrows,  a  sword  and  spear,  and  occasionally  with 
a  battle-axe  and  sling.  He  defended  himself  with  a  wicker  shield, 
similar  to  the  Assyrian,  and  almost  large  enough  to  cover  him.  He 
wore  a  leather  tunic  and  trousers,  low  boots,  and  a  felt  cap  ;  some- 
times he  was  protected  by  a  coat  of  mail  made  of  scale  armor,  or  of 
quilted  linen,  like  the  Egyptian  corselet.  In  the  heavy  cavalry,  both 
horse  and  horsemen  wore  metal  coats-of-mail,  which  made  their  move- 
ments slow  and  hesitating  ;  the  light  cavalry  were  less  burdened,  and 
were  celebrated  for  quick  and  dextrous  maneuvring.  The  special 
weapon  of  the  horseman  was  a  javelin— a  short,  strong  spear,  with  a 
wooden  shaft  and  an  iron  point.  Sometimes  he  was  armed  with  a 
long  leather  thong,  which  he  used  with  deadly  effect  as  a  lasso.  The 
war-chariots,  which  we  have  seen  so  popular  in  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 
armies,  were  regarded  by  the  Persians  with  disfavor.  Kings  and 
princes,  however,  rode  in  them,  both  on  the  march  and  in  action,  and 
sometimes  a  chariot  force  was  brought  into  the  field.  The  wheels  of 
the  Persian  chariot  were  armed  with  scythes,  but  this  device  does  not 
seem  to  have  caused  the  destruction  intended,  since,  as  it  was  drawn 
by  from  two  to  four  horses,  and  always  contained  two  or  more  occu- 
pants, it  furnished  so  large  a  mark  for  the  missiles  of  the  enemy,  that 
a  chariot  advance  was  usually  checked  before  reaching  the  opposing 
line  of  battle.      Military  engines  seem  rarely  if  ever  used,  and  the 


102 


MEDIA     AlTD     PERSIA 


siege-towers  and  battering-rams,  so  familiar  in  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 
scu1t)t;Ufes,  are  *nevcr  raeotioned  in  Persian  inscriptions.  Elephants 
were 'SOmetimes'V^mplfcyiedr  Ail  battle  ;  and  at  Sardis,  Cyrus  gained  his 
victory  over  Crcpgas  by  frightening  the  Lydian  horses  with  an  array 
,of ,  Qaxiiel^.'  ;  '. , ;  ' '  f  , ,  ;•  '^'^'\  <    ' 

Organization  of  the  Army. — The  Persians  trusted  for  success  mainly 
to  numbers.  The  army  was  commanded  personally  by  the  king,  or 
some  one  appointed  by  him.  In  the  division  of  men  under  oflBcers  a 
decimal  system  prevailed,  so  that,  grading  upward,  there  were  the  cap- 
tains of  tens,  of  hundreds,  of  thousands,  and  of  tens-of-thousands. 
Sometimes  a  million  men  were  brought  into  service.* 


PERSIAN    FOOT-SOLDIERS. 


On  the  March. — The  Persians,  like  the  Assyrians,  avoided  fighting 
in  winter,  and  led  out  their  armies  in  early  spring.  They  marched 
only  by  day,  and  as,  before  the  time  of  Darius,  there  were  neither 
roads  nor  bridges,  their  immense  cavalcade  made  slow  progress.  The 
baggage -train,  composed  of  a  vast  multitude  of  camels,  horses,  mules, 

*  The  troops  were  drawn  from  the  entire  empire,  and  were  marshalled  in  the 
field  according  to  nations,  each  tribe  accoutred  in  Its  own  fashion.  Here  were  seen 
the  gilded  breastplates  and  scarlet  kilts  of  the  Persians  and  Medes  ;  there  the  woolen 
shirt  of  the  Arab,  the  leathern  jerkin  of  the  Berber,  or  the  cotton  dress  of  the  native 
of  Hindustan.  Swart  savage  Ethiops  from  the  Upper  Nile,  adorned  with  a  war-paint 
of  white  and  red,  and  scantily  clad  with  the  skins  of  leopards  or  lions,  fought  in  one 
place  with  huge  clubs,  arrows  tipped  with  stone,  and  spears  terminating  in  the  horn 
of  an  antelope.  In  another,  Scyths,  with  their  loose,  spangled  trousers  and  their 
tall  pointed  caps,  dealt  death  around  from  their  unerring  blows  ;  while  near  them 
Assyrians,  helmeted,  and  wearing  corselets  of  quilted  linen,  wielded  the  tough  spear 
or  the  still  more  formidable  iron  mace.  Rude  weapons,  like  cane  bows,  unfeathered 
arrows,  and  stakes  hardened  at  one  end  in  the  fire,  were  seen  side  by  side  with  keen 
swords  and  daggers  of  the  best  steel,  the  finished  productions  of  the  workshops  of 
Phoenicia  and  Greece.  Here  the  bronze  helmet  was  surmounted  with  the  ears  and 
horns  of  an  ox ;  there  it  was  superseded  by  a  fox-skin,  a  leathern  or  wooden  skull- 
cap, or  a  head-dress  fashioned  out  of  a  horse's  scalp.  Besides  horses  and  mules, 
elephants,  camels,  and  wild  asses  diversified  the  scene,  and  rendered  it  still  more 
Strange  and  wonderful  to  the  eye  of  a  European.— iJatc/iww/i. 


SUMMARY.  103 

oxen,  etc.,  dragging  heavy  carts  or  bearing  great  packs,  was  sent  on  in 
advance,  followed  by  about  half  the  troops  in  a  long,  continuous 
column.  Then,  after  a  considerable  break,  came  a  picked  guard  of  a 
thousand  horse  and  a  thousand  foot,  preceding  the  most  precious 
treasures  of  the  nation — its  sacred  emblems  and  its  king.  The  former 
consisted  of  the  holy  horses  and  cars,  and,  perhaps,  the  silver  altars 
on  which  flamed  the  eternal  fire.  The  monarch  followed,  riding  on  a 
car  drawn  by  Nisaean  steeds.  x\f ter  him  came  a  second  guard  of  a 
thousand  foot  and  a  thousand  horse  ;  then  ten  thousand  picked  foot — 
probably  the  famous  " Immortals"  (p.  130),  and  ten  thousand  picked 
horsemen.  Another  break  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ensued,  and 
then  the  remainder  of  the  troops  completed  the  array.  The  wives  of 
the  chief  officers  often  accompanied  the  army,  and  were  borne  in 
luxurious  litters  amid  a  crowd  of  eunuchs  and  attendants.  On  enter- 
ing a  hostile  land  the  baggage-train  was  sent  to  the  rear,  horsemen 
were  thrown  out  in  front,  and  other  effective  changes  made. 

In  battle  the  troops  were  massed  in  deep  ranks,  the  bravest  in  front. 
Chariots,  if  used,  led  the  attack,  followed  by  the  infantry  in  the  center 
and  the  cavalry  on  the  wings.  If  the  line  of  battle  were  once  broken, 
the  army  lost  heart ;  the  commander  usually  set  the  example  of  flight, 
and  a  general  stampede  ensued. 


4.  SUMMARY. 

1.  Political  History.— Late  in  the  7th  century  b.  c.  the  hardy 
Medes  threw  off  the  Persian  yoke  and  captured  Nineveh.  But  the 
court  of  Astyages  at  Ecbatana  became  as  luxurious  as  that  of  Asshur- 
banipal  had  been,  and  the  warlike  Persians  pushed  to  the  front.  Under 
Cyrus  they  conquered  Media,  Lydia,  Babylonia,  and  founded  an  empire 
reaching  from  India  to  the  confines  of  Egypt.  Cambyses,  son  of 
Cyrus,  by  the  help  of  the  Phoenicians  subdued  Egypt,  but  was  after- 
ward smitten  with  madness.  Meanwhile  a  Magian  usurped  the  throne 
in  the  name  of  Smerdis,  the  murdered  brother  of  Cambyses.  Darius 
unseated  the  Pseudo  Smerdis,  and  organized  the  empire  which  Cyrus 
had  conquered.  He  invaded  India,  Scythia,  and  finally  Greece,  but 
his  hosts  were  overthrown  on  the  field  of  Marathon  (see  p.  1 26). 

2.  Civilization. — Every  Persian,  even  though  one  of  the  Seven 
Princes,  held  his  life  at  the  mercy  of  the  king.  Truthful  and  of  simple 
tastes  in  his  early  national  life,  he  grew  in  later  days  to  be  luxurious 
and  effeminate.  Keen-witted  and  impulsive,  having  little  love  for 
books  or  study,  his  education  was  with  the  bow,  on  the  horse,  and  in 
the  field.  In  architecture  he  delighted  in  broad,  sculptured  staircases, 
and  tall,  slender  columns.     He  expressed  some  original  taste  and  de- 


104 


MEDIA     AKD     PERSIA. 


sign,  but  his  art  was  largely  borrowed  from  foreign  nations,  and  his 
inventions  were  few  or  none.  He  wrote  in  cuneiform  characters,  using 
a  pen  and  prepared  skins  for  epistles  and  private  documents  ;  his  public 
records  were  chiseled  in  stone.  He  had  little  respect  for  woman,  and 
kept  his  wife  and  daughters  confij;ied  in  the  harem.  He  went  to  war 
with  a  vast  and  motley  cavalcade,  armed  by  nations,  and  relied  upon 
overwhelming  numbers  for  success.  He  worshipped  the  elements, 
and  the  Magi— his  priests — guarded  a  holy  flame  on  mountain  heights. 
When  he  died  his  friends  encased  his  body  in  wax  and  buried  it,  or 
exposed  it  to  be  destroyed  by  the  vultures  and  wild  beasts. 


•READING     REFERENCES. 

The  General  Ancient  Histoi'ies  named  on  pp.  hh  and  72.—Rawlinson''s  Five  Great 
Monarchies.— Vaux' 8  Nineveh  and  Per8epolis.—Fergusson''s  Palaces  of  Nineveh  and 
Persepolis  restored.— Loftus'' s  Chaldea  and  Siisiana.—Haug' s  Essaijs  on  the  Sacred 
Language.,  Writings,  and  Religion  of  the  Parsees.—Eber''s  Egyptian  Princess  {p.  UU) 
contains  a  vivid  description  of  the  time^  of  Cambyses  and  the  Pseiido-Smerdis. — 
Eawlinsm's  Translation  of  Herodotus.— Muller's  Sacred  Books  of  the  East  ( Vols.  IV 
and  V). 

CHRONOLOGY. 

B.C. 

Cyaxares  destroyed  Nineveh. -. 625 

C>  rus  subdued  the  Medes . .  558 

Cyrus  defeated  Croesus,  and  captured  Sard* 554 

Cyrus  subdued  the  far  East 553-540 

Cyrus  captured  Babylon 538 

Cambyses  ascended  the  throne 529 

Cambyses  conquered  Egypt 527 

Darius  Hystaspes  ascended  the  throne 521 

Darius  invaded  Greece 490 


THE   RUINS   OF  PERSEPOLIS, 


INDIA. 


TJie  Hindoos^  like  the  Persians,  were  Aryans.  In  all 
respects,  except  color,  they  resemble  the  Europeans.  They 
are  thought  to  have  emigi-ated  from  Iran  (p.  12)  earlier  than 
1500  B.  c.  They  never  materially  influenced  the  steady  flow 
of  history,  and  are  only  incidentally  mentioned  when  foreign- 
ers went  thither  for  purposes  of  trade  or  conquest.  The  flrst 
authentic  event  recorded  is  that  of  the  invasion  of  Darius 
(518  B.C.),  and  the  next  that  of  Alexander  (p.  152).* 

Tiie  Civilization. — The  character  of  their  civilization  was 
stereotyped  at  an  early  day.  By  mixing  with  the  dark  races  which 
inhabited  the  country  the  fair-skinned  invaders  lost  the  Aryan  pro- 
gressiveness  and  energy.  What  the  Greeks  who  followed  Alexander 
found  in  India  meets  the  traveler  there  to-day — a  teeming  popula- 
tion, gentle  and  peaceable;  fabulous  riches;  the  arts  and  industries 
passing  from  generation  to  generation  unchanged ;  and  a  systein  of 
religion  with  rigorous  rules  and  cerepionies  regulating  all  the  details 
of  life.  The  products  of  the  Indian  looms  were  as  eagerly  sought 
by  the  ancients  as  the  modems.  The  silks,  pearls,  precious  stones, 
spices,  gold,  and  ivory  of  India  have  in  successive  ages  enriched 
Phoenicia,  the  Italian  republics,  and  England. 

Society. —  Castes  were  established  by  the  early  Aryans.  (1.)  The 
Brahmins  or  priests,  who  had  the  right  of  interpreting  the  sacred 
books,  and  possessed  a  monopoly  of  knowledge ;  (2.)  The  Kshatriyas^ 

*  There  is  little,  if  anything,  in  the  Indian  annals  worth  the  name  of  history. 
The  Hindoo  mind,  though  acute  and  intelligent,  is  struck,  not  by  the  reasonableness 
or  truth  of  a  statement,  but  by  its  grandeur.  Thus,  in  the  Brahmin  mythology  we 
hear  of  RShn,  an  exalted  being,  76,800  miles  high  and  19,200  miles  across  the  shoul- 
ders. While  the  Egyptian  engraved  on  stone  the  most  trivial  incident  of  daily  life, 
the  Hindoo  disregarded  current  events,  and  became  absorbed  in  metaphysical  subtle- 
ties.—51MK/  BawUnson  and  Mullerm  the  GotUemporary  JievieWt^Ai^nl,  1870. 


106  IIS-DIA. 

or  soldiers ;  (3.)  The  Vnisya,  or  traders  and  farmers ;  and  (4.)  The 
Sudras,  or  laborers,  who  consisted  of  the  conquered  people,  and  were 
slaves.  The  Pariahs,  or  outcasts,  ranked  below  all  the  others,  and 
were  condemned  to  perform  the  most  menial  duties.  Intermarriage 
between  the  castes  was  forbidden,  and  occupations  descended  rigidly 
from  father  to  son. 

Literature. — The  Sanscrit  (perfected),  the  language  of  the 
conquerors,  is  preserved  among  the  Hindoos,  like  the  Latin  with  us, 
by  means  of  grammars  and  dictionaries.  Its  literature  is  rich  in 
fancy  and  exalted  poetry,  and  embalms  the  precious  remains  of  that 
language  which  was  nearest  the  speech  of  our  Aryan  forefathers. 
Thousands  of  Sanscrit  works  are  still  in  existence.  No  man's  life 
is  long  enough  to  read  them  all.  A  certain  Hindoo  king  is  said  to 
have  had  the  contents  of  his  library  condensed  into  12,000  volumes !. 
A  portion  of  the  Vedas,  the  sacred  books  of  Brahma,  was  com- 
piled 1200  B.  c.  The  Rig- Veda  C(mtains  1028  hymns,  invoking  as 
gods  the  sun,  moon,  and  other  powers  of  nature.  The  following 
extract  is  a  beautiful  litany : 

1.  "Let  me  not  yet,  OVaruna(lhe  god  of  water)  enter  into  the  house  of  clay. 
Have  mercy,  Almighty,  have  mercy  I 

2.  "  If  I  go  along  trembling,  like  a  cloud  driven  by  wind,  have  mercy,  Almighty, 
have  mercy  1 

3.  "  Through  want  of  strength,  thou  Strong  One,  have  I  gone  to  the  wrong  shore. 
Have  mercy,  Almighty,  have  mercy  1 

4.  "  Tiiirst  came  on  the  worshipper,  in  the  midst  of  the  waters.  Have  mercy 
Almighty,  have  mercy  ! 

5.  "Wherever  we  men,  O  Varuna,  commit  an  offence  before  the  heavenly  host ; 
wherever  we  break  thy  law  through  thoughtlessness,  have  mercy.  Almighty,  have 
mercy  I " 

Religion. — Brahmanism,  the  Hindoo  faith,  teaches  pantheism^* 
a  system  which  makes  God  the  soul  of  the  universe,  so  that  "  what- 
ever we  taste,  or  see,  or  smell,  or  feel  is  God."  There  runs  also 
through  its  theology  the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  „f  souls,  i.  e,, 
that  after  death  good  spirits  will  be  absorbed  into  the  Supreme  Being, 
but  wicked  ones  will  be  sent  back  to  occupy  the  bodies  of  animals  to 
begin  afresh  the  round  of  purification  and  elevation.  The  idea  of 
prayer,  meditation,  sacrifice,  and  penance,t  in  order  to  secure  this 

*  The  doctrine  of  the  Hindoo  Trinity,  i.  <?.,  that  God  reveals  himself  in  three  forms- 
Brahma  the  creator,  Vishnu  the  preserver,  and  Siva  the  destroyer— is  now  known 
to  be  a  modern  one.  It  grew  out  of  an  attempt  to  harmonize  all  the  views  that  were 
hostile  to  Buddhism. 

t  Travelers  tell  us  how  the  Hindoo  fanatics  carry  this  idea  of  penance  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  keep  their  hands  clenched  until  the  nails  grow  through  the  palms,  and  to 
hold  their  arms  upright  ttntil  they  become  paralyzed.  -  - 


THE     CIVILIZATIOK^ 


107 


final  absorption  which  is  the  highest  good,  constitutes  the  key  to 
Brahmanism,  and  explains  why  in  its  view  the  hermit  and  devotee 
are  the  truly  wise.  By 
acts  of  benevolence  and 
sacrifice  performed  in 
different  stages  of  trans- 
migration one  may  accu- 
mulate a  vast  stock  of 
merit,  so  as  finally  to  at- 
tain to  a  god-like  intelli- 
gence. Several  of  these 
divine  sages  are  believed 
to  have  arisen  from  time 
to  time. 

Buddhism  (500  b.  c.) 
was  an  effort  to  reform 
Brahmanism  by  incul- 
cating a  benevolent  and 
humane  code  of  morals. 
It  teaches  the  necessity 
of  a  pure  life,  and  holds 
that  by  the  practice  of 
six  transcendent  virtues 
— alms,  morals,  science, 
energy,  patience,  and 
charity — a  person  may 
hope  to  reach  Nirvana  or 
eternal  repose.  Buddha, 
the  founder  of  this  sys- 
tem, is  said  to  have  "  previously  existed  in  four  hundred  millions  of 
worlds.  During  these  successive  transmigrations  he  was  almost 
every  sort  of  fish,  fly,  animal,  and  man.  He  had  acquired  such  a 
sanctity  millions  of  centuries  before  as  to  permit  him  to  enter  Nir- 
vana, but  he  preferred  to  endure  the  curse  of  existence  in  order  to 
benefit  the  race."  Buddha  is  a  historic  character,  and  his  life  was 
marvelously  pure  and  beautiful.  His  religion,  however,  was  a  prac- 
tical atheism,  and  his  teachings  led  to  a  belief  in  annihilation  and 
not  absorption  in  Brahma,  or  God,  as  the  chief  end  of  existence.  The 
Buddhists  were  finally  expelled  from  India.  But  they  took  refuge 
in  Ceylon ;  their  missionaries  carried  their  doctrines  over  a  large 
part  of  the  East,  and  Buddhism  now  constitutes  the  religion  of  one- 
quarter  of  the  population  of  the  world.     There  are  almost  endless 


BUDDHIST  PRIESTS. 


108 


INDIA 


modifications  of  both  these  faiths,  and  they  abound  in  sentiments 
imaginative  and  subtle  beyond  conception.  Mingled  with  this  lofty 
ideality  is  the  grossest  idolatry,  and  most  grotesque  images  are  the 
general  objects  of  the  Hindoo  worship. 

The  Sacred  Writings  of  the  Hindoos  contain  much  that  is  simple 
and  beautiful,  yet,  like  all  such  heathen  literature,  they  are  full  of 
silly  and  repulsive  statements.  Thus  the  Institutes  of  Vishnu  declare 
that  "cows  are  auspicious  purifiers";  that  "drops  of  water  falling 
from  the  horns  of  a  cow  have  the  power  to  expiate  all  sin";  and 
that  "  scratching  the  back  of  a  cow  destroys  all  guilt."  The  Brah- 
mins assert  that  prayer,  even  when  offered  from  the  most  unworthy 
motives,  compels  the  gods  to  grant  one's  wishes.  The  Institutes  of 
Gautama  (Buddha)  forbid  the  student  to  recite  the  text  of  the  Veda 
"if  the  wind  whirls  up  the  dust  in  the  day-time."  The  Buddhists 
declare  that  all  animals,  even  the  vilest  insects,  as  well  as  the  seeds 
of  plants,  have  souls. 


READING     REFERENCES. 

Muller''8  Sacred  Book^of  the  East,  and  History  of  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature -~ 
Whitney's  Oriental  and  Linguistic  Studies.— LenormanVs  Manvel,  etc..  Vol.  II L— John- 
son'^s  Oriental  Religions,  India.— Taylor's  StudenV s  Manual  of  the  History  of  India.— 
Bayard  Taylor''s  India,  China,  and  Japan.— Articles  on  India,  etc.,  in  Appleton'' s, 
and  ZelVs  Cyclopaedias. 


BKAHIMIN    AT    PKAY 


CHINA. 


The  Chinese  were  Turanians  (p.  11).  Their  historical 
records  have  been  claimed  to  reach  far  back  of  all  known 
chronology,  but  these  are  now  admitted  to  be  largely  myth- 
ical. Some  authorities  place  the  foundation  of  the  empire 
at  about  2800  b.  c.  Since  then  more  than  twenty  dynasties 
of  kings  have  held  sway.  From  early  times  the  country  has 
been  disturbed  by  incursions  of  the  Tartars  (Huns  or  Mon- 
gols). The  Emperor  Ohing-Wang  expelled  these  wild  bar- 
barians, and  to  keep  them  out  built  along  the  northern  fron- 
tier the  Great  AVall  of  China  (about  250  B.  c).  It  is  fifteen 
to  thirty  feet  high,  wide  enough  for  six  horsemen  to  ride 
abreast  upon  the  top,  and'  extends  over  mountains  and  valleys 
a  distance  of  twelve  hundred  miles.  This  emperor  is  now 
regarded  by  the  Chinese  as  their  national  hero. 

In  the  13th  century  the  great  Asiatic  conqueror  Genghis 
Khan  invaded  the  empire,  and  paved  the  way  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  first  Mongol  dynasty,  which  held  the  king- 
dom for  nearly  one  hundred  years.  During  this  period  the 
famous  traveler  Marco  Polo  {Brief  U.  S.,,  p.  20)  visited 
China,  where  he  remained  seventeen  years.  On  his  return 
to  Europe  he  gave  a  glowing  description  of  the  magnificence 
of  the  Eastern  monarch's  court.  Again,  in  the  17th  century, 
the  Tartars  obtained  the  throne,  and  founded  the  dynasty 
which  now  governs  the  empire. 


110 


CHIKA 


'^.^'Xvl 


THE  GREAT  WALL  OF  CHINA. 


The  Civilization. — The  Chinese  have  always  kept  themselves 
isolated  from  the  Other  nations.*  Consequently  China  has  influenced 
history  even  less  than  has  India.  Law  and  tradition  have  done  for 
the  former  what  a  false  religion  has  for  the  latter.  Everything  came 
to  a  stand-still  ages  ago.  The  dress,  the  plan  of  the  house,  the  mode 
of  bowing,  the  minutest  detail  of  life,  are  regulated  by  three  thousand 
ceremonial  laws  of  almost  immemorial  usage.  No  man  presumes 
to  introduce  any  improvement  or  change.  The  only  hope  is  to 
become  as  wise  as  the  forefathers  by  studying  the  national  classics,  i 


*  Herodotus  gives  a  characteristic  account  of  their  mode  of  dealing  with  foreign- 
ers. He  says  that  the  Chinese  were  wont  to  deposit  their  bales  of  wool  or  silk  in  a 
certain  place,  and  then  go  away.  The  merchants  came  up,  laid  beside  the  goods  the 
sum  of  money  they  were  willing  to  pay,  and  retired.  The  Chinese  thereupon  ven- 
tured out  again,  and  if  they  were  satisfied  took  the  money  and  left  the  goods,  other- 
wise they  left  the  money  and  carried  off  the  goods. 

t  It  is  wonderful  to  notice  the  marked  resemblance  between  the  ancient  Egyptians 
and  the  Chinese.  There  was  hardly  a  peculiarity  marking  the  former  that  is  not  to 
be  found  essentially  in  the  latter.  There  is  in  both  the  same  stereotyped  character, 
the  same  exceptional  mode  of  writing,  the  same  unwillingness  to  mingle  with  sur- 
rounding nations,  the  same  mode  of  reckoning  time  by  dynasties,  and  the  same  en- 
joyment in  the  contemplation  of  death.— Fergusson''s  Arch.,  Vol.  I,  p.  93. 


THE     CIVILIZATIOK. 


Ill 


Sucli  is  the  esteem  in  wliicb  agriculture  is  held  that  once  a  year  the 
emperor  exhibits  himself  in  public  holding  a  plow.  The  ingenuity 
of  the  Chinese  is  proverbial.  They  anticipated  by  centuries  many 
of  the  most  important  inventions  of  modern  Europe — such  as  gun- 
powder, printing,  paper,  porcelain,  and  the  use  of  the  compass.  A 
Chinese  chart  of  the  stars  represents  the  heavens  as  seen  in  that 
country  2300  b.  c,  thus  showing  how  early  astronomy  was  cultivated 
by  this  exclusive  people. 

The  Literature  is  very  exten- 
sive. The  writings  of  Confucius  are 
the  chief  books  perused  in  the 
schools.  All  appointments  to  the 
civil  service  are  based  on  examina- 
tions, which  include  the  preparation 
of  essays  and  poems,  and  the  writing 
of  classical  selections. 

Three  Religions,  Buddhism, 
Taoism  or  Rationalism,  and  Confu- 
cianism, exist.  Such  is  the  liberty 
of  faith  that  a  man  may  believe 
in  them  all,  while  the  mass  of  the 
people  will  pray  in  the  temples  of 
any  one  indiscriminately.  All  these 
faiths  agree  in  the  worship  of  one's 
ancestors.  Buddhism  was  introduced 
from  India  (p.  108),  and  by  its  gor- 
geous ritual  and  its  speculative  doc- 
trines, powerfully  appeals  to  the 
imagination  of  its  devotees.  Taoism  traditional  likeness  of  confucius. 
is  a  religion  of  the  supreme  reason 

ajone.  Confucianism  is  named  from  its  founder,  who  died  about  478 
B.  c.  (eight  years  before  tiie  birth  of  Socrates).  He  taught  a  series  of 
elevated  moral  precepts,  having  reference,  however,  solely  to  man's 
present,  and  not  his  future  state. 

Sayings  of  Confucius.—"  He  who  exercises  government  by  means  of  his  virtue 
may  be  compared  to  the  north  polar  star  which  keeps  its  place,  and  all  the  (other) 
stars  turn  towards  it." 

"  What  you  do  not  like  when  done  to  yourself,  do  not  do  to  others." 

"  I  am  not  concerned  that  I  have  no  place  (office)  ;  I  am  concerned  how  I  may  fit 
myself  for  one.  I  am  not  concerned  that  I  am  not  known  ;  I  seek  to  be  worthy  to  be 
known," 

"  The  wise  will  never  intermit  his  labor :  if  another  succeeds  with  one  effort,  he 
will  use  a  hundred." 

"  Slow  in  words  and  earnest  in  action.  Act  before  speaking,  and  then  speak  ac-. 
cording  to  your  actions." 


112 


CHIN^  A. 


ExTBACT  FBOH  THE  CLASSIC  OF  FILIAL  PiETY.— "  The  services  of  love  and  rev- 
erence to  parents  when  alive,  and  those  of  grief  and  sorrow  to  them  when  dead  :— 
these  completely  discharge  the  fundamental  duty  of  living  men."''— MiUlers  Sacred 
Books  of  the  East,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  488. 

A  characteristic  of  the  Chinese  is  their  overweening  national  vanity.  "  The  most 
popular  term  by  which  they  designate  their  country  is  the  'Middle  Kingdom,'  from 
the  notion  that  it  is  situated  in  the  center  of  the  world.  The  Chinese  map  of  the 
globe  is  in  the  shape  of  a  parallelogram,  of  the  habitable  part  of  which  China  occu- 
pies nine-tenths  or  more.  Some  foreign  countries  are  represented  by  small  spots  in 
tlie  oceans  which  surround  China,  and  not  far  from  its  outside  boundaries,  A  short 
extract  from  one  of  their  most  popular  essayists  will  illustrate  this  extraordinary 
feature  of  the  national  character  :  '  I  felicitate  my.self  that  I  was  born  in  China,  and 
constantly  think  how  very  different  it  would  have  been  with  me  if  I  had  been  bom 
beyond  the  seas  in  some  remote  part  of  the  earth,  where  the  people,  far  removed 
from  the  converting  maxims  of  the  ancient  kings  and  ignorant  of  the  domestic  rela- 
tions, are  clothed  with  the  leaves  of  plants,  eat  wood,  and  live  in  the  holes  of  the 
earth.'  '""—Boolittle's  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese. 


READING     REFERENCES. 

Doolittle''s  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese.— Loomis' s  Confucius  and  the  Chinese 
Classics.— Collie'' s  Four  Books  (a  translation  of  Chinese  classical  works).— Thornton'' 8 
History  of  China. —  Williams'' s  M'lddle  Kingdom.— Articles  on  China  and  Cmfucius  in 
Appleton'^s,  and  ZelVs  G7/dopoedias.—Legge''s  Eeligions  of  China. 


CHINESE   TEMPLE. 


HELLAS 

OR 

GREECE 

Scale  of  English  Miles 


J.WELLS,  DEU 


F"X. 


n 


.f?oV»\\^^ 


Jlfgse, 


\o    J^ 


2Jj?.*C<s'= 


?Y\>^' 


Cj-pseU 


nietboij 
Pytlna. 


^*fa.. 


^ifWJiasoi 


l*oti(lai 


Olympus 


^*^-''^\ 


'iXamta 


/>v  #^"'""  '•  >^    ^^"  '•      tectum  Pr.LS^^^^^J-«^y^^^^    "l 


Etaj 


■  ^       O 


Xr^susj 

LESBOS' 


PergHBTO* 


^: 


Arginus* 


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,  tTd'-glB 


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r"'  ^^>^ 


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^'^gI  \^    r>T 


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s,      CYTHN03  I. 


>91ANDR0S  I.        . 


^Smyrna 


--SW 


it. 


Lade 


8TR08I.     'Oetog 


.ss^-*-     ■  ,  ailetasi 


*     <^     >   8eB.PHos  ,.  <^/i-^-^'  '•  .„08  .!^t,-J     „  ^ 


iSf   -^ 


lalea  Prom. 


MELOS  I.  ^    C/^'°^'"    ^ORGOS  I. 


<'ytl»e'^^8candea 


CYTHERA  I. 


.3  .^- 


•%        ^^         astypaCca  I. 

THERAlT*      anApUeI. 


%AE6ILA  I. 

Psacum  Pr.  ^ 


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Criumetopor 
Prom. 


Mt.lda 


rhacstasj 


r  -v"^ 


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ipARPAIVpy  '  •» 


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^^>^^     - 


fSaanmo;iijj/-.'i;K>sn.; 'o  ^^    ■;  ,'    ^\ 


RUSSELL  *  6TRUTHER8,  ENO'e  N.V, 


GREECE 


1.    THE    POLITICAL    HISTORY. 

Seat  of  Civilization  Changed. — Thus  far  we  have  traced 
the  beginnings  of  civilization  among  the  oldest  peoples  of 
antiquity.  Our  study  has  been  confined  to  the  Orient.  We 
now  turn  to  Europe.  Its  history,  so  far  as  we  know,  began 
in  Greece.  The  story  of  that  little  peninsula  became,  about 
the  time  of  the  Persian  wars  (p.  91),  the  record  of  civilization 
and  progress,  to  which  the  history  of  the  East  is  thenceforth 
but  an  occasional  episode. 

The  Difference  between  Eastern  and  Western  Civ- 
ilization is  marked.  The  former  rose  to  a  considerable 
pitch,  but,  fettered  by  despotism,  caste,  and  polygamy,  was 
soon  checked.  The  monarchs  were  absolute,  the  empires 
vast,  and  the  masses  passive.  In  Greece,  on  the  contrary, 
we  find  the  people  astir,  every  power  of  the  mind  in  full 
play,  and  little  states  all  aglow  with  patriotic  ardor.  Assy- 
rian art,  Egyptian  science,  and  the  Phoenician  alphabet  were 
absorbed,  but  only  as  seeds  for  a  new  and  better  growth. 
Much  of  the  life  we  live  to-day,  with  its  political,  social,  and 

Geographical  Quesh'o/is.—Boxmd  Greece.  Name  the  principal  Grecian  states. 
The  principal  Grecian  colonies  (map,  p.  11).  The  chief  islands  in  the  Mgean  Sea. 
Locate  the  Peloponnesus.  Arcadia.  Where  was  Ionia  ?  .^olis  ?  Athens  ?  Sparta  ? 
Thebes  ?  Argos  ?  Corinth  ?  Delphi  ?  Marathon  ?  Plataea  ?  The  pass  of  Ther- 
mopylae ?  Ilium  ?  The  Hellespont  ?  The  isle  of  Rhodes  ?  Mount  Parnassus  ? 
ValeofTempe?  Mount Ossa?  Mount  Pelion  ?  Salamis Island ?  Syracuse?  Mas^na 
Graecia  ?    Chaeronea  ? 


114  •  GREECE. 

intellectual  advantages ;  its  music,  painting,  oratory,  and 
sculpture  ;  its  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  its  free  institutions, 
was  kindled  on  the  shores  of  the  ^gean  Sea,  was  transmitted 
by  the  Greek  to  the  Roman,  by  him  to  the  Teuton,  and  so 
handed  down  to  us. 

The  G-eographical  Features  of  Greece  had  much  to 
do  with  fixing  the  character  of  its  inhabitants.  The  coast 
was  indented,  like  no  other^  with  bays  having  bold  promon- 
tories reaching  far  out  to  sea,  and  forming  excellent  harbors. 
Nature  thus  afforded  every  inducement  to  a  seafaring  life. 
In  striking  contrast  to  the  vast  alluvial  plains  of  the  Nile 
and  the  Euphrates,  the  land  was  cut  up  by  almost  impassable 
mountain  ranges,  isolating  each  little  valley,  and  causing  it 
to  develop  its  peculiar  life.  A  great  variety  of  soil  and 
climate  also  tended  to  produce  a  versatile  people. 

The  Early  Inhabitants  were  our  Aryan  kinsfolk  (p.  12). 
The  Pelasgians,*  a  simple,  agricultural  people,  were  the  first 
to  settle  the  country.  Next,  the  Hellenes,  a  warlike  race, 
conquered  the  land.  The  two  blended  and  gave  rise  to  the 
Grecian  language  and  civilization,  as  did,  in  later  times,  the 
Norman  and  Anglo-Saxon  to  the  English. 

Hellas  and  Hellenes. — The  Greeks  did  not  use  the 
name  by  which  we  know  them,  but  called  their  country 
Hellas  and  themselves  Hellenes.  Even  the  settlements  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  in  the  isles  of  the  ^g6an  and  Mediter- 
ranean, were  what  Freeman  happily  styles  "patches  of 
Hellas."  All  those  nations  whose  speech  they  could  not 
understand  they  called  Barbarians. 

G-recian  Unity. — The  different  Grecian  states,  though 
always  jealous  and  often  fighting,  yet  had  much  in  common. 


*  Remains  of  the  Pelasgian  architecture  still  survive.  They  are  rude,  massive 
stone  structures.  The  ancients  considered  them  the  work  of  the  Cyclops— a  fabulous 
race  of  giants,  who  had  a  single  eye  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead. 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  115 

All  spoke  the  same  language,  though  there  were  several  dia- 
lects. They  had  many  common  customs,  and  a  common 
inheritance  in  the  poems  of  Homer  (p.  162)  and  the  glory 
of  the  Hellenic  name.  There  were,  moreover,  two  great 
"holding-points"  for  all  the  Greeks.  One  was  the  half- 
yearly  meeting  of  the  Amphictyonic  Council,*  and  the 
other  the  national  games  or  festivals  (p.  186).  All  Hellenes 
took  part  in  the  latter,  and  thus  the  colonies  were  united  to 
the  parent  state.  The  Grecian  calendar  itself  was  based  on 
the  quadrennial  gathering  at  Olympia,  the  First  Olympiad 
dating  from  776  b.  c.f 

Legendary  History. — The  early  records  of  Greece  are 
mythical.  It  is  not  worth  the  effort  to  pick  out  the  kernels 
of  truth  around  which  these  romantic  legends  grew.  They 
chronicle  the  achievements  of  the  Heroic  Age  of  the  poets. 
Then  occurred  the  Argonautic  Expedition  in  search  of  the 
Golden  Fleece,  the  Twelve  Labors  of  Hercules,  the  Siege  of 
"Troy  divine,''  the  Hunt  of  the  Caledonian  Boar,  and  the 
exploits  of  heroes  whose  adventures  have  been  familiar  to 
each  succeeding  age,  and  are  to-day  studied  by  the  youth  of 
every  civilized  land.  J 

*  In  early  times  twelve  tribes  in  the  north  agreed  to  celebrate  sacrifices  together 
twice  a  year,  in  the  sprhig  to  Apollo  at  Delphi,  and  in  the  autumn  to  Ceres  at  An- 
thela,  near  Ttiermopylae.  Their  deputies  were  called  the  Amphictyonic  Council 
(council  of  the  neighbors  or  co-religionis^ts),  and  the  meetings  from  being,  at  first, 
puiely  religious  became  great  centers  of  political  infiuence.  The  temple  at  Delphi 
belonged  to  all  the  states,  and  the  Delphic  oracle  attained  celebrity,  not  only  among 
the  Greeks  but  also  among  foreign  nations. 

t  This  was  twenty-nine  years  before  the  era  of  Nabonasser  (p.  46),  and  half  a  century 
before  the  Captivity  of  the  Ten  Tribes  by  Sargon  (p,  84). 

X  Thus  read  the  legends :  (1.)  Jason,  a  prince  of  Thessaly,  sailed  with  a  band  of 
adventurers  in  the  good  ship  Argo.  The  Argonauts  went  through  the  Dardanelles, 
past  the  present  site  of  Constantinople,  to  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Euxine  sea.  Jason 
there  planted  a  colony,  took  away  the  famous  Golden  Fleece,  carried  off  the  beautiful 
princess  Medea,  and  returned  to  Thessaly  in  triumph.  (2.)  Hercules  was  the  son  of 
Jupiter  and  Alcmena.  Juno,  Queen  of  Heaven,  sent  two  serpents  to  strangle  him 
in  his  cradle,  but  the  precocious  infant  killed  them  both  and  escaped  unharmed. 
Afterward  his  half  brother,  Eurystheus,  imposed  upon  him  twelve  difllcult  under- 
takings, all  of  which  he  successfully  accomplished.    (3.)  Soon  aftev  the  return  of  the 


116 


GREECE. 


Grecian  Governments. — In  legendary  times,  as  we  learn 
from  the  Iliad,  each  little  city  or  district  had  its  hereditary 
king,  supposed  to  be  descended  from  the  gods.  He  was  ad- 
vised by  the  Council  of  the  Elders  and  the  Asse7nUy,  the 
latter  being  a  mass  meeting,  where  all  the  citizens  gathered 


THE  DEPARTURE   OF  ACHILLES  (fROM   AN   ANCIENT  VASE). 


Argonautic  expedition  several  of  the  Grecian  warriors— Meleager,  Thesens,  and 
others— joined  in  an  ^olian  war,  which  the  poets  termed  the  ''Hunt  of  the  Caledonian 
Boary  ^neus,  king  of  Calydon,  father  of  Meleager.  having  neglected  to  pay 
homage  to  Diana,  that  goddess  sent  a  wild  boar,  which  was  impervious  to  the  spears 
of  ordinary  huntsmen,  to  lay  waste  his  country.  All  the  princes  of  the  age  assembled 
to  hunt  him  down,  and  he  was  at  last  killed  by  the  spear  of  Meleager.  (4.)  The  story 
of  the  Siege  of  Troy  is  the  subject  of  Homer's  Iliad.  Venus  had  promised  Pars,  son 
of  Priam,  king  of  Troy,  that  if  he  would  pronounce  her  the  most  beautiful  of  the 
goddesses,  he  should  have  for  wife  the  handsomest  woman  of  his  time,  Helen,  wife 
of  Menelaus,  king  of  Sparta.  Paris  granted  the  boon,  and  then  going  to  Sparta 
carried  off  Helen  to  Troy.    Menelaus,  smarting  under  this  wrong,  appealed  to  the 

Grecian  princes  for  help.  They  assembled 
under  his  brother  Agamemnon,  king  of  My- 
cenae. One  hundred  thousand  men  sailed  away 
in  eleven  hundred  and  eighty-six  ships  across 
the  Eg6an,  and  invested  Troy.  The  siege 
lasted  ten  years.  Hector  "  of  the  beamy 
helm,"  son  of  Priam,  was  the  bravest  leader 
of  the  Trojans.  Achilles,  the  first  of  Grecian 
waiTiors,  slew  him  in  single  combat,  and 
dragged  his  body  at  his  chariot-wheels  in  in- 
solent triumph  around  the  walls  of  the  city. 
But  the  "lion-hearted"  Achilles  fell  in  turn, 
"  for  so  the  fates  had  decreed."  Troy  was  finally  taken  by  stratagem.  The  Greeks 
feigned  to  retire,  leaving  behind  them  as  an  offering  to  Minerva,  a  great  wooden  horse. 
This  was  reported  to  be  purposely  of  such  vast  bulk,  in  order  to  prevent  the  Trojans 
fiom  taking  it  into  the  city,  as  that  would  be  fatal  to  the  Grecian  cause.    The  deluded 


PROW  OF  AN  EARLY  GREEK  SHIP. 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  117 

to  express  their  views  upon  political  *  affairs.  The  power 
of  the  kings  gradually  diminished  until  most  of  the  cities 
became  republics,  or  commonwealths.  In  some  cases  the 
authority  was  held  by  a  few  distinguished  and  ancient 
families.  If  good,  it  was  styled  an  aristocracy  {aristos, 
best)  ;  but  if  bad,  an  oligarchy  {oligos,  few).  In  a  democracy, 
any  citizen  could  hold  office  and  vote  in  the  assembly.  At 
Sparta  there  were  always  two  kings,  although  in  time  they 
lost  most  of  their  power. 

The  Dorian  Migration  was  one  of  the  first  clearly- 
defined  events  of  Grecian  history.  After  the  Trojan  war 
the  ties  which  had  temporarily  held  the  princes  together 
were  loosed,  and  a  general  shifting  of  the  tribes  ensued. 
The  Dorians — a  brave,  hardy  race — descended  from  the 
mountains,  and  moved  south  in  search  of  homes. f  They 
conquered  the  Achaeans  in  the  Peloponnesus,  and  occupied 
the  chief  cities — Argos,  Corinth,  and  Sparta.  (About  the 
eleventh  century  b.  c.) 

Grecian  Colonies. — Hellas  was  greatly  extended  in  con- 
sequence of  these  changes.  A  part  of  the  Achaeans  fled 
northward,  dispossessing  the  lonians,  many  of  whom  emi- 
grated to  Asia  Minor,  Avhere  they  founded  the  Ionic  colonies, 
among  which  were  Ephesus  {Acts  xix.  1 ;  xx.  15)  and  Mile'- 


iiihabitants  fell  into  the  snare,  and  eagerly  dragged  the  unwieldy  monster  within  their 
walls.  That  night  a  body  of  men  concealed  in  the  hors^e  crept  out,  threw  open  the 
gates  and  admitted  the  Grecians,  who  had  quietly  returned.  From  the  terrible  mas- 
sacre which  ensued,  ^neas,  a  famous  Trojan  chief,  escaped  with  a  few  followers. 
His  subsequent  adventures  form  the  theme  of  VirgiPs  yEneid,  the  famous  Latin 
poem.  Homer's  Odyssey  tells  the  wanderings  of  the  crafty  Ulysses,  king  of  Ithaca, 
during  his  journey  home  from  Troy,  and  the  trials  of  his  faithful  wife  Penelope 
during  his  absence. 

*  It  is  curious  that  the  word  "politics  "  is  .ierived  from  the  Greek  word  for  city, 
and  meant  in  its  original  form  only  the  affairs  of  the  city.  The  Hellenes,  unlike 
most  other  Aryans  (except  the  Italians,  who  were  of  the  same  swarm),  from  the  very 
first  gathered  in  cities. 

t  This  event  is  known  in  Grecian  history  as  "The  Return  of  the  Heraclei'dse. 
The  Dorians  were  induced  by  the  desceirlants  of  Hercules  to  support  their  claim  to 
the  throne  of  Argos,  whence  their  ancestor  had  been  driven  by  the  family  of  Pelops. 


118  GREECE. 

tus.  Similarly,  the  ^olians  had  already  founded  the  jEoUc 
colonies.  Finally  the  Dorians  were  tempted  to  cross  the  sea 
and  establish  the  Doric  colonies,  chief  of  which  was  Rhodes 
(map,  p.  11).  In  subsequent  times  of  strife  many  Greek 
citizens  grew  discontented,  and  left  their  houies  to  try  their 
fortune  in  new  lands.  The  colonial  cities  also  soon  became 
strong  enough  to  plant  new  settlements.  Every  opportunity 
to  extend  their  commerce  or  political  influence  was  eagerly 
seized  by  these  energetic  explorers.  In  the  palmy  days  of 
Greece,  the  Euxine  and  the  Propontis  (Sea  of  Marmora) 
were  fringed  with  Hellenic  towns.  The  Ionian  cities,  at  the 
time  of  the  Persian  conquest  (p.  124),  "  extended  ninety  miles 
along  the  coast  in  an  almost  uninterrupted  line  of  magnificent 
quays,  warehouses,  and  dwellings."  On  the  African  shore 
was  the  rich  Gyrene,  the  capital  of  a  prosperous  state.  Sicily, 
with  her  beautiful  city  of  Syracuse,  was  like  a  Grecian  island. 
Southern  Italy  was  long  called  Magna  Grsecia  (Great  Greece). 
The  Phoenicians,  the  seamen  and  traders  of  these  times, 
almost  lost  the  commerce  of  the  eastern  Mediterranean.  On 
the  western  coast,  the  Greeks  possessed  the  flourishing  colony 
of  Massilia  (Marseilles),  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  rising 
power  of  Carthage  would  have  secured  nearly  the  entire 
shore,  and  transformed  the  Mediterranean  into  a  "  Grecian 
lake." 

Wherever  the  Greek  went,  he  remained  a  Greek.  He 
carried  with  him  into  barbarian  lands  the  Hellenic  language, 
manners,  and  civilization.  In  the  colonies  the  natives  learned 
the  Grecian  tongue,  and  took  on  the  Grecian  mode  of  thought 
and  worship.  Moreover,  the  transplanted  Greek  matured 
faster  than  the  home-growth.  S*o  it  happened  that  in  the 
magnificent  cities  which  grew  up  in  Asia  Minor,  philosophy, 
letters,  the  arts  and  sciences,  bloomed  even  sooner  than  in 
Greece  itself. 


HELLAS  or  GKEECE; 

AFTER  THE  DORIC  MIGRATION. 

LllJ/Eolians     lZZj  lonians 
I         lAchaeans    ^^9  Dorians 


T^narium  P'-     |^    "^'^^  P. 

■~^  CYTHERA 


i.o-  rH3DE;; 

RPATHOS  i. 


1I.WELLS,  OEU 


SiitttU  <t  £tru(&<r<,£nyT'«,tf..  £. 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  119 

Sparta  and  Athens. — The  Dorians  and  the  lonians 
came  to  be  the  leading  races  in  Greece.  Their  diverse 
characteristics  had  a  great  influence  on  its  history.  The 
Dorians  were  rough  and  plain  in  their  habits,  sticklers  for 
the  old  customs,  friends  of  an  aristocracy,  and  bitter  ene- 
mies of  trade  and  the  fine  arts.  The  lonians,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  refined  in  their  tastes,  fond  of  change,  demo- 
cratic, commercial,  and  passionate  lovers  of  music,  painting, 
and  sculpture.  The  rival  cities,  Sparta  and  Athens,  repre- 
sented these  opposing  traits.  Their  deep-rooted  hatred  was 
the  cause  of  numerous  wars  which  convulsed  the  country. 
For,  in  the  sequel,  we  shall  find  that  the  Grecians  spent 
their  best  blood  in  fighting  among  themselves,  and  Grecian 
history  is  mostly  occupied  with  the  doings  of  these  tv/o 
cities. 

SPARTA. 

Early  History. — One  of  the  Dorian  bands  occupied 
Lacedaemon,  called  also  Sparta  from  its  grain  fields  (sparte, 
sown  land).  The  former  owners  (termed  permhi,  dwellers- 
around)  were  allowed  to  keep  the  poorest  of  the  lands,  and 
to  be  tradesmen  and  mechanics.  But  they  could  neither 
have  voice  in  the  government  nor  intermarry  with  their 
Dorian  conquerors,  who  now  came  to  be  called  Spartans. 
The  latter  took  the  best  farms,  and  compelled  their  slaves 
(helots)  to  work  them.  The  helots  were  captives  or  rebels, 
and  were  at  first  few,  but  in  the  succeeding  wars  rapidly 
increased.  The  Spartans  (only  nine  thousand  strong  in  the 
time  of  Lycurgus),  planted  thus  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile 
population,  were  forced  to  live  like  soldiers  on  guard. 

In  the  rest  of  the  Peloponnesus  the  Dorians  betook 
themselves    to    peaceful    pursuits    and   mingled  with    the 


120  GREECE.  [850  B.C. 

natives.  But  in  Sparta  there  was  no  relaxation,  no  blending. 
The  Dorians  there  kept  on  their  cold,  cruel  way.  They 
were  constantly  quarreling  among  themselves,  and  so  little 
gain  did  they  make  that  two  and  a  half  centuries  passed  and 
the  Achagans  were  still  fortified  only  little  over  two  miles 
away  from  Sparta. 

Lycurgus  (850  b.c.),  a  member  of  the  royal  family, 
finally  crystallized  into  a  constitution  all  the  peculiarities 
of  the  Spartan  character.  His  whole  aim  was  to  make  the 
Spartans  a  race  of  soldiers.  Trade  and  travel  were  pro- 
hibited.^ No  money  was  allowed  except  cumbrous  iron  coins, 
which  no  foreigner  would  take.  Most  property,  as  slaves, 
horses,  dogs,  etc.,  was  held  in  common.  Boys  were  removed 
from  home  at  the  age  of  seven,  and  educated  by  state  officers. 
The  men  ate  at  public  tables,  slept  in  barracks,  and  could 
visit  their  homes  only  occasionally.*  Private  life  was  given 
up  for  the  good  of  the  state  and  devoted  to  military  drill. 

The  two  kings  were  retained  ;  but  their  power  was  limited 
by  a  senate  of  twenty-eight  men  over  sixty  years  old,  and  an 
assembly  of  all  the  citizens.  Five  ephors  (overseers)  were 
chosen  annually  by  the  assembly,  and  these  were  the  real 
rulers.  No  popular  discussion  was  allowed,  nor  could  a 
private  citizen  speak  in  the  assembly  without  special  leave 
from  a  magistrate.  Thus  the  government  became  in  fact 
an  oligarchy  under  the  guise  of  a  monarchy.  The  people 
having  promised  to  live  under  this  constitution  until  he 
should  return,  Lycurgus  left  Sparta  and  was  never  heard  of 
again. 

The  Supremacy  of  Sparta  dates  from  this  time.  "  A 
mere  garrison  in  a  hostile  country,  she  became  the  mistress 

*  Agis,  a  man  of  high  rank,  on  his  return  from  a  long  and  triumphant  expedition, 
ventured  to  send  for  his  broth,  that  he  might  eat  his  first  meal  at  home  with  his  wife. 
This  foolish  show  of  sentiment  was  punished  by  a  heavy  fine. 


743-668  B.C.]      THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY, 


121 


of  Laconia."  The  conquest  of  Messenia  in  two  long,  bloody 
wars,  made  her  dominant  in  the  Peloponnesus.  This  was 
preceded  and  followed  by  several  minor  wars,  all  tending 
to  increase  her  territory  and  establish  ber  authority  over  her 
neighbors.  At  the  beginning  of  the  5th  century  b.  c.  the 
Spartans  were  ready  to  assert  their  position  as  the  leaders  in 
Grecian  affairs,  and  had  already  repeatedly  carried  their 
arms  across  the  Isthmus  into  Attica,  when,  at  this  juncture, 
all  Greece  was  threatened  by  the  Persian  forces  (p.  124). 


ATHENS. 

Early  History. — Athens,  like  the  other  Grecian  cities, 
was  governed  for  a  time  by  kings.  Cecrops,  the  first  ruler, 
according  to  the  legends,  taught  the 
people  of  Attica  navigation,  marriage, 
and  the  culture  of  the  ohve.  Codrus, 
the  last  monarch,  fell  (1050  b.  c.)  while 
resisting  the  Dorians.  After  his  death 
the  nobles  selected  one  of  the  royal 
family,  as  arclion  or  chief.  At  first  the 
archon  ruled  for  life ;  afterward  the 
term  was  shortened  to  ten  years,  and 
finally  to  one,  the  nobles  choosing  nine 
archons  from  their  own  number.  Thus 
Athens  became  an  aristocratic  republic. 

Draco  (624  b.c). — But  the  demo- 
cratic spirit  was  rife.     The  people  com-        coin  of  athens. 
plained  that  they  got  no  justice  from 
the  nobles,  and  the   demand  for  written  laios  became  so 
urgent  that  Draco  was  directed  to  prepare  a  code.     His  laws 
were  so  merciless  that  they  were  said  to  have  been  written 
6 


122 


GREECE. 


[624  B.  c. 


SOLON  S  TABLETS. 


in  blood,  every  offence  being  punished  with  death.  To  avoid 
the  popular  indignation,  Draco  fled,  and  his  name  is  to  this 
day  synonymous  with  cruelty. 

Solon*  (594  B.C.).— Party  strife  now  prevailed.  The 
state  being  threatened  with  anarchy,  Solon  was  appointed  to 
draft  a  new  constitution.  He  repealed  the  harsh  edicts  of 
Draco  ;  relieved  those  who  were  in  debt ;  f  bought  the  free- 
dom of  many  who  had 
been  sold  as  slaves ; 
forbade  parents  to  sell 
or  pawn  their  children; 
ordered  every  parent 
to  teach  his  sons  a 
trade ;  and  required 
sons  to  support  their 
father  in  old  age,  provided  he  had  given  them  an  education. 
His  plan  was  to  weaken  the  nobles  and  to  strengthen  the 
people.  He  therefore  gave  every  free-born  native  of  Attica 
a  vote  in  the  assembly,  where  laws  were  enacted,  archons 
elected,  and  officers  held  accountable  for  their  conduct. 

Property,  instead  of  birth,  now  gave  rank.  The  people 
were  divided  into  four  classes  according  to  their  income. 
Only  the  three  richest  classes  could  hold  office,  but  they 
had  to  pay  the  taxes  and  to  equip  themselves  as  soldiers. 
The  wealthiest  could  serve  as  archons,  while  only  those  who 
had  held  that  office  were  eligible  to  the  ancient  Court  of 
Areopagus.  J     This  court  repealed  laws  which  were  hurtful 

*  This  famous  Athenian  lawgiver  was  descended  from  the  ancient  kings,  but 
poverty  forced  him  to  earn  his  livelihood.  Gaining  a  fortune  by  commerce  he  retired 
from  business.  He  then,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  scholars  of  that  day,  traveled 
to  the  East  in  search  of  knowledge.  Such  was  his  sagacity  and  judgment  that  he  was 
reckoned  one  of  the  Seven  Wise  Men  of  Greece.    (Appendix.) 

+  In  that  age  a  man  unable  to  pay  his  debts  was  liable  to  be  sold  into  slavery. 
See  Nehemiah  v.  3,  5 ;  2  Kings  iv.  1.  The  punishments  in  early  times  were  all  severe. 
Read  Matt.  v.  38. 

X  So  called  because  the  meetings  were  held  on  the  hill  known  by  that  name 
(Acts  xvii.  19). 


560B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  123 

to  the  state,  looked  after  the  morals  of  the  people,  and  re- 
buked any  person  who  lived  unworthy  of  an  Athenian,  or 
who  was  not  properly  bringing  up  his  children.  A  senate  of 
four  hundred,  selected  annually  by  lot,  was  to  prepare  the 
business  presented  in  the  assembly. 

Tyrants.* — Athens  prospered  under  Solon's  wise  manage- 
ment. The  people  got  their  rights.  The  mortgage-pillars  f 
disappeared.  But  moderate  measures,  as  is  often  the  case, 
pleased  neither  extreme  of  society.  Local  factions  strove 
for  power.  One  day  Pisis'tratus,  a  noble  aspiring  to  office, 
rushed,  besmeared  with  blood,  into  the  market-place,  and, 
pointing  to  his  self-inflicted  wounds,  asked  for  a  guard, 
pretending  that  the  other  nobles  had  attacked  him  because 
he  was  a  friend  of  the  people.  X  This  request  being 
granted,  ere  long  he  seized  the  Acropolis  and  became  the 
first  tyrant  of  Athens.  His  rule,  however,  was  so  beneficent 
that  one  would  fain  forget  how  craftily  he  secured  his  place. 
He  established  Solon's  laws,  erected  beautiful  public  build- 
ings, encouraged  art,  founded  the  first  library,  and  collected 
and  published  the  scattered  ballads  of  Homer. 

The  tyrant's  sons,  Hipinas  and  Hipparchus,  trod  in  his 
steps.  But  the  latter  having  been  assassinated,  the  brother 
became  moody  and  cruel.  His  enemies,  led  by  the  Alcmseo- 
nidae,  §  bribed  the  oracle  at  Delphi,  so  that  when  the  Lace- 

*  The  Greeks  applied  this  name  at  first  to  a  person  who  became  king  in  a  city 
where  the  law  did  not  authorize  one.  Afterward  the  Tyrants  became  cruel,  and  the 
word  took  on  the  meaning  which  we  now  give  it. 

t  It  was  customary  among  the  Greeks,  when  a  farm  was  given  as  security  for  the 
payment  of  money,  to  set  up  a  stone  pillar  at  the  comer  with  the  sum  loaned  and 
the  name  of  the  lender  engraved  upon  it. 

X  Solon  detected  the  sham  and  with  bitter  wit  declared,  "  You  are  but  a  bad  imi- 
tation of  Ulysses.  He  wounded  himself  to  delude  his  enemies  ;  you  to  deceive  your 
countrymen." 

§  This  name  came  into  prominence  in  the  following  way :  At  the  time  Draco's 
Btern  laws  aroused  so  much  feeling,  a  noble  r.amed  Cylon  attempted  to  make  himself 
tyrant.  He  seized  the  Acropolis  but  was  defeated,  and  his  followers,  half  dead  with 
hunger,  were  forced  to  take  refuge  at  the  altars  of  tlie  gods.    The  archon  MegSclee 


134  GREECE.  [510B.C. 

dsemonians  consulted  the  priestess,  they  received  the  reply, 
**  Athens  must  be  freed."  The  Spartans  accordingly  invaded 
Attica  and  drove  away  the  tyrant  (510  b.  c).  Hippias  went 
over  to  the  Persian  court,  and  was  henceforth  the  declared 
enemy  of  his  native  city.     We  shall  hear  from  him  again. 

Democracy  Established. — It  turned  out,  however,  that 
aristocratic  Sparta  had  only  paved  the  way  for  a  republic. 
For  Cleis'tJienes,  an  Athenian  noble,  the  head  of  the  Alcmge- 
onidae  but  now  the  candidate  of  the  people's  party,  became 
archon.  All  freemen  of  Attica  were  admitted  to  citizenship. 
In  order  to  break  up  the  four  old  tribes,  and  prevent  the 
nobles  from  raising  parties  among  the  people  of  their  clans, 
or  according  to  local  interests,  he  divided  the  country  into 
districts,  and  organized  ten  new  tribes  by  uniting  non- 
adjacent  districts.  Each  tribe  sent  fifty  representatives  to 
the  senate,  and  also  chose  a  strategus  or  general,  the  ten 
generals  to  command  the  army  in  daily  turn. 

The  triumph  of  democracy  was  complete.  Four  times  a 
month  all  Athens  met  to  deliberate  and  decide  upon  public 
questions.  *^The  Athenians  then,"  says  Herodotus,  "grew 
mighty,  and  it  became  plain  that  liberty  is  a  brave  thing." 

It  was  now  near  the  beginning  of  the  5th  century  B.  c. 
Both  Sparta  and  Athens  had  risen  to  power,  when  all  Greece 
was  threatened  by  a  new  foe.  The  young  civilization  of  the 
West  was,  for  the  first  time,  called  to  meet  the  old  civiliza- 
tion of  the  East.  In  the  presence  of  a  common  danger  the 
warring  states  united.  The  next  twenty  years  were  stirring 
ones  in  the  annals  of  freedom. 

induced  them  to  surrender  on  the  promise  of  their  lives.  Scarcely,  however,  had 
they  left  the  altars  than  his  soldiers  cut  them  down.  Soon  after,  a  plague  broke  out, 
which  was  considered  a  judgment  of  the  gods  for  this  impious  act.  The  Athenians, 
believing  tjiat  a  curse  had  thus  fallen  on  their  city,  finally  forced  the  Alcmceonidce 
(the  clan  of  Megacles)  into  exile,  and  called  Epimenides,  a  prophet  of  Crete,  to 
atone  for  and  purify  the  city.  The  AlcmseonidsB  were  wealthy,  and  to  make  amends 
for  their  impiety  they  undertook  to  rebuild  the  temple  at  Delphi,  which  had  been 
burnt  down.  The  contract  called  for  common  stone,  but  they  faced  the  building  with 
fine  marble,  thus  gaining  the  favor  of  the  Delphic  oracle. 


500  B.  c] 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY. 


125 


THE    PEESIAIT    WAES. 

Cause. — The  Persian  empire  now  reached  the  borders  of 
Thessaly.  The  Grecian  colonies  in  Asia  Minor  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  Cyrus;  and  the  conquering  armies  of 
Darius  were  already  threatening  the  freedom  of  Greece  it- 
self, when  an  act  of  Athens  hastened  the  struggle.     The 


GKEECE, 

TIME  OF  THE  PERSIAN  WARS 


^t^XlNE 


diJonian* 
CZlJ)ortan« 
-  - ri..,  „f  r^^,i, 


GREECE   IN   TIME   OF  THE   PERSIAN   WARS. 


Ionian  cities  having  tried  to  throw  off  the  Persian  yoke,  the 
mother  city  sent  them  aid.*  The  Great  King  subdued  the 
Ionic  revolt,  and  then  turned  to  punish  the  haughty  foreign- 
ers who  had  dared  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  his  empire, 

*  During  the  brief  campaign  of  the  Athenians  in  Asia  Minor,  Sardis,  the  capital 
of  Lydia,  was  accidentally  burned.  When  Darius  received  this  news  he  took  a  bow 
and  shot  an  arrow  to  the  sky,  with  a  prayer  to  Ahura  Mazda  for  help ;  and  that  he 
might  not  forget  the  insult  he  ordered  that,  at  dinner  each  day,  a  servant  should  call 
out  thrice,  "  Mai^ter,  remember  the  Athenians." 


126 


GREECE. 


[493  B.  G 


and  also  to  force  the  Athenians  to  receive  back  Hippias 
(p.  124)  as  their  tyrant. 

The  First  Expedition  (493  B.C.)  against  Greece  was 
sent  out  under  Mardonius,  the  son-in-law  of  Darius.  The 
land  troops  were  defeated  in  Thrace,  and  the  fleet  was  shat- 
tered while  rounding  Mount  Athos.  Mardonius  returned 
without  having  set  foot  into  the  region  he  went  to  conquer. 
Second  Expedition. — Darius,  full  of  fury,  began  at  once 
raising  a  new  army.  Meanwhile  heralds  were  dispatched 
to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  Grecian  cities.  Many  sent 
back  earth  and  water,  the  oriental  symbols  of  vassalage ; 
Sparta  and  Athens  refused,  the  former  throwing  the  envoys 
into  a  deep  well,  bidding  them  find  there  the  tokens  of  sub- 
mission. 

Battle  of  Marathon  (490  b.  c). — This  time  the  Persian 
fleet  of  six  hundred  triremes  safely  crossed  the  ^gean,  and 
landed  a  large  army  on  the  famous  field  of  Marathon,  only 

twenty-two  miles  from 
Athens.  Miltiades  (to 
whom  the  other  strategi 
had  surrendered  their 
days  of  command)  went 
out  to  meet  them  with 
but  ten  thousand  sol- 
diers. The  usual  prayers 
and  sacrifices  were  of- 
fered, but  it  was  late  in 
the  day  ere  the  auspices 
became  favorable  so  that  he  dared  hazard  an  attack.  Finding 
that  the  Persians  had  placed  their  best  troops  at  the  center, 
Miltiades  put  opposite  them  a  weak  line  of  men,  and 
stationed  heavy  files  of  his  choicest  soldiers  on  the  wings. 
Giving  the  enemy  no  time  to  liurl  their  javelins,  lie  imme- 


PLAiy   OF    MARATHON 


MAP   OF  THE   PLAINS   OF   MARATHON. 


490  B.  c] 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY 


127 


VIEW   OF   THE   PLAINS   OF   MARATHON. 


3 


K 


N\'>'' 


diately  charged  at  full  speed, 
and  came  at  once  to  a  hand- 
to-hand  fight.  The  strong 
wings  swept  all  before  them, 
and  then,  wheeling,  fell  upon 
both  flanks  of  the  victorious 

Persian  center.     In  a  few  moments  the  Asiatic  host  were 
wildly  fleeing  to  their  ships.* 


*  The  Spartans  had  promised  aid,  but  from  religious  scruples  the  troops  were 
unwilling  to  march  until  the  full  moon,  and  so  did  not  arrive  till  after  the  battle.  A 
thousand  men  from  Plataea— all  the  little  city  had— stood  by  the  side  of  the  Athenians 
on  that  memorable  day.  When  the  victory  was  won,  Phidippides,  the  swiftest  run- 
ner in  Greece,  ran  with  the  tidings,  and,  reaching  Athens,  had  breath  only  to  tell  the 
news  when  he  fell  dead  in  the  street.  Seven  of  the  Persian  vessels  were  captured  by 
the  pursuing  Greeks.  The  brother  of  ^schylus.  the  poet,  is  said  to  have  caught  a 
trireme  by  the  stem,  and  to  have  held  it  until  his  hand  was  hacked  off  by  the  enemy. 
Hardly  had  the  "Persians  and  Athenians  separated  from  the  last  conflict  on  the  beach 
when  the  attention  of  both  was  arrested  by  a  flash  of  light  on  the  summit  of  Mount 
Pentelicus,  It  was  the  reflection  of  the  setting  sun  on  the  glittering  surface  of  an 
uplifted  shield.  MUtiades  at  once  saw  in  this  a  signal  from  the  traitors  in  Athens 
inviting  the  fleet  to  join  them  before  he  returned.  Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost,  and 
he  ordered  an  instant  march  to  the  city.  When  the  Persian  ships  arrived  they  found 
the  heroes  of  Marathon  drawn  up  on  the  beach  awaiting  them. 


128  GREECE.  [490  B.C. 

Tlie  effect*  of  this  victory  was  to  render  the  reputation 
of  Athens  for  valor  and  patriotism  equal,  if  not  suj)erior,  to 
that  of  Sparta.  The  Persian  invasion  made  a  union  of  the 
Hellenic  states  possible,  and  Marathon  decided  that  Athens 
should  be  the  leader. 

Greece  was  saved,  and  her  deliverer,  Miltiades,  was  for  a 
time  the  favorite  hero,  but  a  disgraceful  expedition  to  the 
isle  of  Paros  cost  him  his  popularity,  and  soon  after  his 
return  he  died. 

Themistocles  and  Aristi'des,  generals  associated  with 
Miltiades  at  Marathon,  now  came  to  be  the  leading  men  in 
Athens.  The  former  was  an  able  but  often  unscruj^ulous 
statesman;  the  latter  a  just  man  ^ndan  incorruptible  patriot. 
Themistocles  foresaw  that  the  Persians  would  make  a  fresh 
attempt  to  subdue  Greece,  and  that  Athens  with  its  excellent 
harbor  and  commercial  facilities  could  be  far  stronger  on  sea 

*  "  So  ended  what  may  truly  be  called  the  birthday  of  Athenian  greatness.  It 
stood  alone  in  their  annals.  Other  glories  were  won  in  after  times,  but  none  ap 
proached  the  glory  of  Marathon.  It  was  not  merely  the  ensuing  generation  that  felt 
the  effects  of  that  wonderful  deliverance.  It  was  not  merely  Themistocles  whom 
the  marble  trophy  of  Miltiades  would  not  suffer  to  sleep.  It  was  not  merely  .^Eschy- 
lus,  who,  when  his  end  drew  near,  passed  over  all  his  later  achievements  in  war  and 
peace,  at  Salamis,  and  in  the  Dionysiac  theatre,  and  recorded  in  his  epitaph  only  the 
one  deed  of  his  early  days— that  he  had  repulsed  the  '  long-haired  Medes  at  Marathon.' 
It  was  not  merely  the  combatants  in  the  battle  who  told  of  supernatural  assistance 
in  the  shape  of  the  hero  Theseus,  or  of  the  mysterious  peasant,  wielding  a  gigantic 
ploughshare.  Everywhere  in  the  monuments  and  the  customs  of  their  country,  and 
for  centuries  afterward,  all  Athenian  citizens  were  reminded  of  that  great  day,  and 
of  that  alone.  The  frescoes  of  a  painted  portico— the  only  one  of  the  kind  in 
Athens— exhibited  in  lively  colors  the  scene  of  the  battle.  The  rock  of  the  Acropolis 
was  crowned  on  the  eastern  extremity  by  a  temple  of  Wingless  Victory,  now  sup- 
posed to  have  taken  up  her  abode  forever  in  the  city  ;  and  in  its  northern  precipice, 
the  cave^  which  up  to  this  time  had  remained  untenanted,  was  consecrated  to  Pan, 
in  commemoration  of  the  mysterious  voice  which  rang  through  the  Arcadian  moun- 
tains to  cheer  the  forlorn  messenger  on  his  empty-handed  return  from  Sparta.  The 
one  hundred  and  ninety-two  Athenians  who  had  fallen  on  the  field  received  the 
honor — unique  in  Athenian  history — of  burial  on  the  scene  of  thiir  death  (the 
tumulus  raised  over  their  bodies  by  Aristldes  still  remains  to  mark  the  spot) ;  their 
names  were  invoked  with  hymns  and  sacrifices  down  to  the  latest  times  of  Grecian 
freedom ;  and  long  after  that  freedom  had  been  extinguished,  even  in  the  reign  of 
Trajan  and  the  Antonines,  the  anniversary  of  Marathon  was  still  celebrated,  and 
the  battle-field  was  believed  to  be  haunted,  night  after  night,  by  the  snorting  of 
unearthly  chaigers  and  the  clash  of  invisible  combatants." 


482  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  129 

than  on  land.  He  therefore  urged  the  building  of  a  fleet. 
Aristides,  fond  of  the  old  ways,  condemned  this  measure. 
Themistocles,  dreading  the  opposition,  secured  the  ostracism  * 
of  his  rival. 

Third  Eszpedition. — Darius  died  ere  he  could  make  a 
new  attempt  to  punish  Athens.  But  his  son  Xerxes  assem- 
bled over  a  million  soldiers,  whom  he  led  in  person  across 
the  Hellespont  and  along  the  coast  of  Thrace  and  Macedonia. 
A  fleet  of  twelve  hundred  war-ships  and  three  thousand 
transports  kept  within  easy  reach  from  the  shore,  f 

Battle  of  Thermopylae  (480  b.  c.).— At  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae  his  march  was  checked  by  seven  thousand 
Greeks  under  Leonidas,  a  Spartan.  Xerxes  sent  a  messenger 
to  demand  their  arms.  He  received  the  laconic  reply, 
**  Come  and  take  them."  For  two  days  the  Greeks  repulsed 
every  attack,  and  the  terrified  Persians  had  to  be  driven 
to  the  assault  with  whips.  On  the  third  day  a  traitor  having 
pointed  out  to  Xerxes  a  mountain-path,  he  sent  the  Immortals 
into  the  rear  of  the  Grecian  post.  It  was  the  Spartan  law 
that  a  soldier  should  die  but  not  yield.  So  Leonidas,  learn- 
ing of  the  peril,  sent  away  his  allies,  retaining  only  three 
hundred  Spartans  and  seven  hundred  Thespians,  who  wished 
to  share  in  the  glory  of  the  day.     The  little  band  prepared 

*  This  measure  was  introduced  by  Cleisthenes.  An  urn  was  placal  in  the  assem- 
bly, and  any  citizen  could  drop  into  it  a  shell  (ostf^akon)  bearing  the  name  of  the 
person  he  wished  exiled.  When  six  thousand  votes  were  tbrown  against  a  man 
he  was  banished  for  ten  years.  It  is  said  that,  on  this  occasion,  a  countryman  coming 
to  Aristides,  whom  he  did  not  know,  asked  him  to  write  Aristides  on  his  shell. 
"Why,  what  wrong  has  he  done?"  inquired  the  patriot.  "None  at  all,"  was  the 
reply,  "only  1  am  tired  of  hearing  him  called  the  Just." 

t  Two  magnificent  bridges  of  boats  which  he  built  across  the  Hellespont  having 
been  injured  in  a  storm,  the  story  is  that  Xerxes  ordered  the  sea  to  be  beaten  with 
whips,  and  fetters  to  be  thrown  into  it  to  show  that  he  was  its  master.  The  vast 
army  was  seven  days  in  crossing.  The  king  sat  on  a  throne  of  white  marble  in- 
specting the  army  as  it  passed.  It  consisted  of  forty-six  difl'erent  nations,  each 
armed  and  dressed  after  its  own  manner,  while  ships  manned  by  Phoenicians  covered 
the  sea,  Xerxes  is  said  to  have  burst  into  tears  when  he  thought  how  in  a  few  years 
not  one  of  all  that  immense  throng  would  be  alive. 


130 


GREECE. 


[480  B.  C, 


for  battle — the  Spartans  combing  their  long  hair,  according 
to  custom— and  then,  scorning  to  await  the  attack,  dashed 
down  the  defile  to  meet  the  on-coming  enemy.  All  perished, 
fighting  to  the  last.* 


PASS  OF  THERMOPYL/E 


VICINITY   OF  THERMOPYLAE. 


*  "  Xerxes  could  not  believe  Deraaratus,  who  assured  him  that  the  Spartans  at 
least  were  come  to  dispute  the  Pass  with  him,  and  that  it  was  their  custom  to  trim 
their  hair  on  the  eve  of  a  combat.  Four  days  passed  before  he  could  be  convinced 
that  his  army  must  do  more  than  show  itself  to  clear  a  way  for  him.  On  the  fifth  day 
he  ordered  a  body  of  Median  and  Cissian  troops  to  fall  upon  the  rash  and  insolent 
enemy,  and  to  lead  them  captive  into  his  presence.  He  was  seated  on  a  lofty  throne 
from  which  he  could  survey  the  narrow  entrance  of  the  Pass,  which,  in  obedience  to 
his  commands,  his  warriors  endeavored  to  force.  But  they  fought  on  ground  where 
their  numbers  were  of  no  avail,  save  to  increase  their  confusion,  when  their  attack 
was  repulsed :  their  short  spears  could  not  reach  their  foe  ;  the  foremost  fell,  the 
hinder  advancing  over  their  bodies  to  the  charge  ;  their  repeated  onsets  broke  upon 
the  Greeks  idly,  as  waves  upon  a  rock.  At  length,  as  the  day  wore  on,  the  Medians 
and  Cissians,  spent  with  their  efforts  and  greatly  thinned  in  their  ranks,  were  recalled 
from  the  contest,  which  the  king  now  thought  worthy  of  the  superior  prowess  of  his 
own  guards,  the  ten  thousand  Immortals.  They  were  led  up  as  to  a  certain  and  easy 
victory  ;  the  Greeks  stood  their  ground  as  before ;  or  if  they  ever  gave  way  and  turned 
their  backs,  it  was  only  to  face  suddenly  about,  and  deal  tenfold  destruction  on  their 
pursuers.  Thrice  during  these  fruitless  assaults  the  king  was  seen  to  start  up  from 
his  throne  in  a  transport  of  fear  or  rage.  The  combat  lasted  the  whole  day ;  the 
slaughter  of  the  barbarians  was  great ;  on  the  side  of  the  Greeks  a  few  Spartan  lives 
were  lost ;  as  to  the  rest,  nothing  is  said.  The  next  day  the  attack  was  renewed 
with  no  better  success  ;  the  bands  of  the  several  cities  that  made  up  the  Grecian 
army,  except  the  Phocians,  who  were  employed  in  defending  the  mountain-path  by 
Which  the  defile  was  finally  turned,  relieved  each  other  at  the  post  of  honor ;  all  stood 
equally  firm,  and  repelled  the  charge  not  less  vigorously  than  before.  The  confidence 
of  Xerxes  was  changed  into  despondence  and  pei*plexity," 


480  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY 


131 


LEONIDAS   AT  THE   PASS   OF  THERMOPYLAE. 


The  sacrifice  of  Leomdcu  became  the  inspiration  of  all 
Greece,  and  has  been  the  admiration  of  the  lovers  of  free- 
dom in  every  age.  The  names  of  the  three  hundred  were 
familiar  to  their  countrymen,  and,  six  hundred  years  after, 
a  traveler  spoke  of  seeing  them  inscribed  on  a  pillar  at 
Sparta.  Upon  the  mound  where  the  last  stand  was  made 
a  marble  lion  was  erected  to  Leonidas,  and  a  pillar  to  the 


132  -  GREECE. 


[480B.C. 


three  hundred  bore  this  inscription,  written  by  Simonides 
(p.  164): 

"  Go,  stranger,  and  to  Lacedaemon  tell 
That  here,  obeying  her  behests,  we  fell." 

Battle  of  Sal' amis,— At  first,  however,  the  loss  at  Ther- 
mopylae seemed  in  vain,  and  the  Asiatic  deluge  poured  south 
over  the  plains  of  Greece.  Warned  by  the  oracle  that  the 
safety  of  Athens  lay  in  her  '^  wooden  wall,"  the  inhabitants 
deserted  the  city,  which  Xerxes  burned.  The  ocean,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  ^' fight  for  Grreece."  In  a  storm  the  Persian 
fleet  lost  two  hundred  ships.  But  it  was  still  so  much  supe- 
rior that  the  Greeks  were  fearful,  and  as  usual  quarreling,* 
when  Themistocles  determined  to  bring  on  the  battle,  and 
accordingly  sent  a  spy  to  the  enemy  to  say  that  his  country- 
men would  escape  if  they  were  not  attacked  immediately. 
Thereupon  the  Persians  blockaded  the  Hellenic  fleet  in  the 
harbor  of  Salamis.  Animated  by  the  spirit  of  Thermopyla? 
the  Grecians  silenced  their  disputes  and  rushed  to  the  fray„ 
They  quickly  defeated  the  Phoenician  ships  in  the  van,  and 
then  the  very  multitude  of  the  vessels  caused  the  ruin  of  the 
Persian  fleet.     For  while  some  were  trying  to  escape  and 

*  "All  the  Thessalians,  Locrians,  and  Boeotians,  except  the  cities  of  Thespiaj 
and  Plataea,  sent  earth  and  water  to  the  Persian  king  at  the  first  call  to  submit, 
although  these  tokens  of  subjection  were  attended  by  the  curses  of  the  rest  of  the 
Greeks,  and  the  vow  that  a  tithe  of  their  estates  should  be  devoted  to  the  city  of  Delphi. 
Yet  of  the  Greeks  who  did  not  favor  Persia,  some  were  willing  to  assist  only  on  con- 
dition of  being  appointed  to  conduct  and  command  the  whole  ;  others,  if  their  coun- 
try could  be  the  first  to  be  protected  ;  others  sent  a  squadron,  which  was  ordered  to 
wait  till  it  was  certain  which  side  would  gain  the  victory  ;  and  others  pretended  they 
were  held  back  by  the  declarations  of  an  oracle." — An  oft-told  story,  given  in  con- 
nection with  this  engagement,  illustrates  the  jealousy  of  the  Grecian  generals.  They 
were  met  to  decide  upon  the  prize  for  skill  and  wisdom  displayed  in  the  contest. 
When  the  votes  were  collected,  it  appeared  that  each  commander  had  placed  his  own 
name  first  and  that  of  Themistocles  second.— While  the  Grecian  leaders  at  Salamis 
were  deliberating  over  the  propriety  of  retreat  and  Themistocles  alone  held  firm,  a 
knock  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  Themistocles  was  called  out  to  speak  with  a 
stranger.  It  was  the  banished  Aristides.  "  Themistocles,"  said  he,  "  let  us  be  rivals 
still,  but  let  our  strife  be  which  best  may  serve  our  country."  He  had  crossed  from 
^gina  in  an  open  boat  to  inform  his  countrymen  that  they  were  surrounded  by  the 
enemy. 


480  B.C.J  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORy.  133 

some  to  come  to  the  front,  the  Greeks,  amid  the  confusion 
plying  every  weapon,  sunk  two  hundred  vessels  and  put  the 
rest  to  flight. 

Xerxes,  seated  on  a  lofty  throne  erected  on  the  beach, 
watched  the  contest.  Terrified  by  the  destruction  of  his 
fleet  he  fled  into  Asia,  leaving  three  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  picked  troops  under  Mardonius  to  continue  the  war. 

Battle  of  Himera. — While  the  hosts  of  Xerxes  were  pour- 
ing into  Hellas  on  the  northeast,  she  was  simultaneously 
assailed  on  the  southwest  by  another  formidable  foe.  An 
immense  fleet,  consisting  of  three  thousand  ships-of-war, 
sailing  from  Carthage  to  Sicily,  landed  an  army  under 
Hamilcar,  the  famous  Carthaginian  leader,  who  laid  siege 
to  Himera.  Gelo,  the  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  marched  to  the 
relief  of  that  city  and,  on  the  very  day  of  Salamis,  utterly 
routed  the  Phoenician  forces.  The  t3rranny  of  the  commer- 
cial oligarchy  of  Carthage  might  have  been  as  fatal  to  the 
liberties  of  Europe  as  the  despotism  of  Persia. 

Battle  of  Platcea  (4T9  b.  c). — Mardonius  wintered  in 
Thessaly,  and  the  next  summer  invaded  Attica.  The  half- 
rebuilt  houses  of  Athens  were  again  leveled  to  the  ground. 
Finally  the  allies,  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  strong, 
took  the  field  under  Pausanias,  the  Spartan.  After  the  two 
armies  had  faced  each  other  for  ten  days,  want  of  water 
compelled  Pausanias  to  move  his  camp.  While  en  route 
Mardonius  attacked  his  scattered  forces.  The  omens  were 
unfavorable,  and  the  Grecian  leader  dare  not  give  the  signal 
to  engage.  The  Spartans  protected  themselves  with  their 
shields  as  best  they  could  against  the  shower  of  arrows. 
Many  Greeks  were  smitten  and  fell,  lamenting  not  that  they 
must  fall,  but  that  they  could  not  strike  a  blow  for  their 
country.  In  his  distress  Pausanias  lifted  up  his  streaming 
eyes  toward  the  temple  of  Hera,  beseeching  the  goddess  that. 


134  GREECE.  [479  b.  c. 

if  the  fates  forbade  the  Greeks  to  conquer,  they  might  die 
like  men.  Suddenly  the  sacrifices  became  auspicious.  The 
Spartans  charging  in  compact  rank,  shield  touching  shield, 
with  their  long  spears  swe]3t  all  before  them.  The  Athenians 
coming  up  stormed  the  intrenched  camp.  Scarcely  forty 
thousand  Persians  escaped.  The  booty  was  immense. 
Wagons  were  piled  up  with  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  jewels, 
and  articles  of  luxury.  One  tenth  of  all  the  plunder  was 
dedicated  to  the  gods.  The  prize  of  valor  was  adjudged  to 
the  Plataeans,  and  they  were  charged  to  preserve  the  graves 
of  the  slain,  Pausanias  promising  with  a  solemn  oath  that 
the  battle-field  should  be  sacred  forever. 

That  same  day  the  Grecian  fleet  having  crossed  the 
^Egean,  destroyed  the  Persian  fleet  at  Mycale  in  Asia  Minor. 

The  effect  of  Marathon,  Thermopylae,  Salamis,  Platsea, 
and  Mycale  was  to  give  the  death-blow  to  Persian  rule  in 
Europe.  Grecian  valor  had  saved  a  continent  from  eastern 
slavery  and  barbarism.  More  than  that,  the  Persian  wars  gave 
rise  to  the  real  Hellenic  civilization,  and  Marathon  and  Sala- 
mis may  be  looked  upon  as  the  birth-places  of  Grecian  glory. 

Athenian  Supremacy.  —  Greece  was  now,  to  paraphrase 
the  language  of  Diodorus,  at  the  head  of  the  world,  Athens 
at  the  head  of  Greece,  and  Themistocles  at  the  head  of 
Athens.  The  city  of  Athens  was  quickly  rebuilt.  During 
the  recent  war  the  Spartan  soldiers  had  taken  the  lead,  but 
Pausanias  afterward  proved  a  traitor,  and  as  Athens  was  so 
strong  in  ships  she  became  the  acknowledged  leader  of  all 
the  Grecian  states.  A  league,  called  the  Confederation  of 
Delos  (477  b.  c),  was  formed  to  keep  the  Persians  out  of  the 
^gean.  The  different  cities  annually  contributed  to  Athens 
a  certain  number  of  ships,  or  a  fixed  sum  of  money  for  the 
support  of  the  navy.  The  ambition  of  Themistocles  was  to 
form  a  grand  maritime  empire,  but  his  share  in  the  treason 


478  B.C.] 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY 


135 


of  Pausanias  having  been  disco vered,  be  was  ostracized. 
Aristides,  seeing  the  drift  of  affairs,  bad  cbanged  bis  views, 
and  was  already  tbe  popular  commander  of  tbe  fleet. 
Though  the  head  of  .the  party  of  the  nobles,  be  secured  a 
law  abolishing  the  property  qualification,  and  allowing  any 
person  to  hold  office.* 


VICINITY  OF 

ATHENS 
SALAMIS 


VICINITY   OF   ATHENS 


AGE    OF    PERICLES. 

(479-429  B.C.) 

The  leading  men  at  Athens,  after  the  death  of  Aristides, 
were  Pericles  and  Gimon.  The  heroes  of  the  Persian  In- 
vasions had  passed  from  the  stage,  and  new  actors  now 
appeared. 

*  The  thoughtful  student  of  history  caunot  but  pause  here  to  consider  the  fate 
of  these  three  great  contemporary  men— Pausanias,  Themistocles,  and  Aristides. 
Pausanias  fled  to  the  temple  of  Minerva.  The  Spartans,  not  daring  to  violate  this 
sanctuary,  blocked  the  door  (the  traitor's  mother  laying  the  first  stone),  tore  off  the 
roof,  guarded  every  avenue,  and  left  the  wretch  to  die  of  col  1  and  hunger.  Themis- 
tocles  was  welcomed  by  Artaxerxes,  then  king  of  Persia,  and  assigned  the  revenue 
of  three  cities.  He  lived  like  a  prince,  but  finally  ended  his  pitiable  existence,  it  is 
said,  with  poison.  Aristides  the  Just  went  down  to  his  grave  full  of  honors.  The 
treasurer  of  the  league,  he  had  yet  been  so  honest  that  he  did  not  leave  enough  money 
to  meet  his  funeral  expenses.  The  grateful  republic  paid  these  rites,  finished  the 
education  of  his  son,  and  portioned  his  daughters. 


136  GREECE.  [466  B.C. 

Cimon  *  renewed  the  glory  of  his  father  Miltiades,  the 
Yictor  at  Marathon.  He  pushed  on  the  war  in  Asia  Minor 
against  Persia  with  great  vigor,  finally  routing  her  land 
and  sea  forces  in  the  decisive  battle  of  the  EurymMon 
(466  B.  0.).  As  the  head  of  the  nobles  he  was  naturally 
friendly  to  aristocratic  Sparta.  The  Helots  and  Messenians, 
taking  advantage  of  an  earthquake  which  nearly  destroyed 
that  city,  revolted,  and  a  ten-years  struggle  (known  in  his- 
tory as  the  Third  Messenian  War)  ensued.  The  haughty 
Spartans  were  driven  to  ask  aid  from  Athens.  By  the  in- 
fluence of  Cimon  this  was  granted.  But  the  Spartans  were 
fearful  of  such  allies,  and  ungraciously  sent  the  army  home. 
All  Athens  at  once  rose  in  indignation  at  this  outrage. 
Cimon  was  ostracized  (461  b.  c). 

Pericles,!  who  was  the  leader  of  the  democracy,  now 

*  Cimon  was  the  richest  man  in  Athens.  He  kept  open  table  for  the  pubhc. 
A  body  of  servants  laden  with  cloaks  followed  him  through  the  streets,  and  gave  a 
garment  to  any  needy  person  whom  he  met.  His  pleasure-garden  was  free  for  all  to 
enter  and  pluck  fruit  or  flowers.  He  planted  oriental  plune-trees  in  the  market-place ; 
bequeathed  to  Athens  the  groves,  afterward  the  Academy  of  Plato,  with  its  beautiful 
fountains  ,  built  marble  colonnades  where  the  people  were  wont  to  promenade  ;  and 
gave  magnificent  dramatic  entertainments  at  his  private  expense. 

t  "  To  all  students  of  Grecian  literature  Pericles  must  always  appear  as  the  central 
figure  of  Grecian  history.  His  form,  manner,  and  outward  api)earance  are  well 
known.  We  can  imagine  that  stern  and  almost  forbidding  aspect  which  repelled 
rather  than  invited  intimacy  ;  the  majestic  stature  ;  the  long  head — long  to  dispro- 
portion— already  before  his  fiftieth  year  silvered  over  with  the  marks  of  age.;  the 
sweet  voice  and  rapid  enunciation— recalling,  though  by  an  unwelcome  association, 
the  likeness  of  his  ancestor  Pisistratus.  We  knew  the  stately  reserve  which  reigned 
through  his  whole  life  and  manners.  Those  grave  features  were  never  seen  to  relax 
into  laughter— twice  only  in  his  long  career  to  melt  into  tears.  For  the  whole  forty 
years  of  his  administration  he  never  accepted  an  invitation  to  dinner  but  once,  and 
that  to  his  nephew's  wedding,  and  then  stayed  only  till  the  libation  (p.  199).  That 
princely  courtesy  could  never  be  disturbed  by  the  bitterest  persecution  of  aristocratic 
enmity  or  popular  irritation.  To  the  man  who  had  followed  him  all  the  way  from  the 
Assembly  to  his  own  house,  loading  him  with  the  abusive  epithets  with  which,  as 
we  know  from  Aristophanes,  the  Athenian  vocabulary  was  so  richly  stored,  he  paid 
no  other  heed  than,  on  arriving  at  his  own  door,  to  turn  to  his  torch-bearer  with  an 
order  to  light  his  reviler  home.  In  public  it  was  the  same.  Amidst  the  passionate 
gesticulations  of  Athenian  oratory,  amidst  the  tempest  of  an  Athenian  mob,  his  self- 
possession  was  never  lost,  his  dress  was  never  disordered,  his  language  was  ever 
studied  and  measured.  Every  speech  that  he  delivered  he  wrote  down  previously. 
Every  time  that  he  spoke  he  offered  up  a  prayer  to  Heaven  that  no  word  might  escape 
his  lips  which  he  should  wish  unsaid.    But  when  he  did  speak  the  effect  was  almost 


461B.C.J  TRE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  137 

had  everything  his  own  way.  A  mere  private  citizen,  living 
plainly  and  unostentatiously,  this  great-hearted  man  was 
able  during  his  lifetime,  by  the  spell  of  his  eloquence  and 
the  force  of  his  genius,  to  shape  the  policy  of  the  state.  He 
was  bent  on  keeping  Athens  all-powerful  in  Greece,  and  on 
making  the  people  all-powerful  in  Athens.  He  had  perfect 
confidence  in  a  government  by  the  masses,  if  they  were  only 
properly  educated.  There  were  then  no  common  schools, 
or  daily  papers,  and  he  was  forced  to  use  what  the  times 
supplied.  He  paid  the  people  so  they  could  afford  to  sit  on 
jury  and  attend  the  Assembly  to  listen  to  the  discussion  of 
public  affairs.  He  had  the  grand  dialogues  of  ^schylus, 
Euripides,  and  Sophocles  performed  free  before  the  multi- 
tude. He  erected  magnificent  public  buildings,  and  adorned 
them  with  the  noblest  historical  paintings.  He  made  the 
temples  of  the  gods  grand  and  pure  with  beautiful  architec- 
ture and  the  exquisite  sculjitures  of  Phidias.  He  encouraged 
poets,  artists,  philosophers,  and  orators  to  do  their  best 
work.  Under  his  fostering  care  the  Age  of  Pericles  became 
the  finest  blossom  and  fruitage  of  Hellenic  civilization. 

Athens  Ornamented  and  Fortified.  —  Matchless 
colonnades  and  temples  were  now  erected,  which  are  yet  the 
wonder  of  the  world.     The  Acropolis  was  so  enriched  with 

awful.  The  '  fierce  democracy '  was  struck  down  before  it.  It  could  be  compared  to 
nothing  short  of  the  thunders  and  lightnings  of  that  Olympian  Jove  whom  in  majesty 
and  dignity  he  resembled.  It  left  the  irresistible  impression  that  he  was  always  in 
the  right.  '  He  not  only  throws  me  in  the  wrestle,'  said  one  of  his  rivals,  '  but  when 
I  have  thrown  him  he  will  make  the  people  think  that  it  is  I  and  not  he  who  has 
fallen.''  What  Themistocles,  what  Aristides.  what  Ephialtes,  what  Cimon  said,  has 
perished  from  the  memory  of  their  hearers.  But  the  condensed  and  vivid  images  of 
Pericles,  far  more  vivid  in  Grecian  oratory,  from  their  contrast  with  the  general 
simplicity  of  ancient  diction,  than  they  would  be  now,  were  handed  down  from  age 
to  age  as  specimens  of  that  eloquence  which  had  held  Athens  and  Greece  in  awe. 
'  The  lowering  of  the  storm  of  war '  from  Peloponnesus—'  the  spring  taken  out  of  the 
year'  in  the  loss  of  the  flower  of  Athenian  youths— the  comparison  of  Greece  to  '  a 
chariot  drawn  by  two  horses  '— of  ^gina  to  '  the  eyesore  of  the  Piraeus  '—of  Athens 
to  '  the  school  of  Greece ' — were  amongst  the  traditionary  phrases  which  later  writers 
preserved,  and  which  Thucydides  either  introduced  or  imitated  in  tUe  F^nerol  Ora- 
tion which  he  has  put  \n  his  mouth," 


J  38 


GREECE. 


[455  li  C. 


magnificent  structures  that  it  was  called  "the  city  of  the 
gods."  The  Long  Walls  were  built  two  hundred  yards 
apart,  and  extended  over  four  miles  from  Athens  to  Piraeus 
— its  harbor.  Thus  the  capital  was  connected  with  the  sea, 
and,  while  the  Athenians  held  the  command  of  the  ocean, 
their  ships  could  bring  them  supplies,  even  when  the  city 
should  be  surrounded  by  an  enemy  on  land. 


A  SCENE   IN  ATHENS  IN   THE  TIME   OF   PERICLES. 


The  wonderful  spirit  and  enterprise  of  the  Athenians  are 
shown  from  the  fact  that,  while  they  were  thus  erecting  great 
public  works  at  home,  they  were  during  a  single  year  (458  b.c.) 
waging  war  in  Cyprus,  in  Egypt,  in  Phoenicia,  off  ^gina. 


450  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  139 

and  on  the  coast  of  Peloponnesus.  The  Corinthians,  know- 
ing that  the  Athenian  troops  were  occupied  so  far  from 
home,  invaded  Megara,  then  in  alHance  with  Athens,  but 
the  "boys  and  old  men"  of  Athens  sallied  out  and  routed 
them.  So  completely  was  the  tide  turned  that  (450  b.  c.) 
Artaxerxes  I.  made  a  treaty  with  Athens  agreeing  to  the 
independence  of  the  Grecian  cities  in  Asia  Minor,  and 
promising  not  to  spread  a  sail  on  the  ^gean  Sea,  nor  bring 
a  soldier  within  three-days  march  of  its  coast. 


PELOPONSESTAlsr    WAR 

(431-404  B.C.) 

Causes  of  the  War. — The  arrogant  meddling  of  Athens 
in  the  affairs  of  her  allies,  and  the  use  of  their  contributions 
(p.  134)  in  erecting  her  own  public  buildings,  had  aroused 
the  bitterest  hatred.  Sparta,  jealous  of  the  glory  and  fame 
of  her  rival,  watched  every  chance  to  interfere.  The  real 
question  at  issue,  however,  was  the  broad  one  whether  the 
ruling  power  in  Hellas  should  be  Athens^Ionic,  democratic 
and  maritime,  or  Sparta — Doric,  aristocratic  and  military. 
A  quarrel  having  arisen  between  Corinth  and  her  colony  of 
Corcyra,  Athens  favored  the  latter ;  Sparta,  the  former. 
Nearly  all  Greece  took  sides  in  the  quarrel,  according  to 
race  or  political  sympathy.  The  lonians  and  the  democracy 
aided  Athens ;  the  Dorians  and  the  aristocracy,  Sparta. 
Both  parties  were  sometimes  found  within  the  same  city 
contending  for  the  supremacy. 


Allies  of  Athens. 
All  the  islands  of  the  Mgea,n  (except 
Melos  and  Thera),  Corcyra,  Zacynthus, 
Chios,  Lesbos,  and  Samos ;  the 
numerous  Greek  colonies  on  the  coast 
of  Asia  Minor,  Thrace,  and  Macedon  ; 
Naupactus,  Platsea,  and  a  part  of  Acar- 
naoia. 


Allies  of  Sparta. 
All  the  states  of  the  Peloponnesus 
(except  Argos  and  Achaia,  which  re- 
mained neutral) ;  Locris,  Phocis,  and 
Megara ;  Ambracia,  Anactorium,  and 
the  island  of  Leucas ;  and  the  strong 
Boeotian  League,  of  which  Thebes  was 
the  bead, 


140  GREECE.  [431  B.C. 

Conduct  of  the  War. — The  Spartan  plan  was  to  invade 
Attica,  destroy  the  crops,  and  persuade  the  Athenian  allies  to 
desert  her.  As  Sparta  was  strong  on  land  and  Athens  on 
water,  Pericles^  ordered  the  people  of  Attica  to  take  refuge 
within  the  Long  Walls  of  the  city,  while  the  fleet  and  army 
ravaged  the  coast  of  the  Peloponnesus.  When  therefore 
Archidamus,  king  of  Sparta,  invaded  Attica,  the  people 
flocked  into  the  city  with  all  their  movable  possessions. 
Temporary  buildings  were  erected  in  every  vacant  place  in 
the  public  squares  and  streets,  while  the  poorest  of  the 
populace  were  forced  to  seek  protection  in  squalid  huts 
beneath  the  shelter  of  the  Long  Walls.  Pitiable  indeed  was 
the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  during  these  hot  summer 
days  as  they  saw  the  enemy,  without  hindrance,  burning 
their  homes  and  destroying  their  crops,  while  the  Athenian 
fleet  was  off  ravaging  the  coast  of  Peloponnesus.  But  it 
was  worse  the  second  year,  when  a  fearful  pestilence  broke 
out  in  the  crowded  population.  Many  died,  among  them 
Pericles  himself  (429  B.C.).*  This  was  the  greatest  loss  of 
all,  for  there  was  no  statesman  left  to  guide  the  people. 

*  "  When,  at  the  opening  of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  the  long  enjoyment  of  every 
comfort  which  peace  and  civilization  could  hring  was  interrupted  by  hostile  invasion; 
when  the  whole  population  of  Attica  was  crowded  within  the  city  of  Athens  ;  when 
to  the  inflammable  materials  which  the  populace  of  a  Grecian  town  would  always 
afford,  were  added  the  discontented  landowners  and  peasants  from  the  country,  who 
were  obliged  to  exchange  the  olive  glades  of  Colonus,  the  thymy  slopes  of  Hymettus, 
and  the  oak  forests  of  Acharmfe,  for  the  black  shade  of  the  Pelasgicum  and  the 
stifling  huts  along  the  dusty  plain  between  the  Long  Walls ;  when,  without,  were 
seen  the  fire  and  smoke  ascending  from  the  ravage  of  their  beloved  orchards  and 
gardens ;  and,  within,  the  excitement  was  aggravated  by  the  little  knots  which  gath- 
ered at  every  corner  and  by  the  predictions  of  impending  evil  which  were  handed 
about  from  mouth  to  mouth ;  when  all  these  feelings,  awakened  by  a  situation  so 
wholly  new  in  a  population  so  irritable,  turned  against  one  man  as  the  author  of  the 
present  distress,  then  it  was  seen  how  their  respect  for  that  one  man  united  with 
their  inherent  respect  for  law  to  save  the  state.  Not  only  did  Pericles  restrain  the 
more  eager  spirits  from  sallying  forth  to  defend  their  burning  property— not  only  did 
he  calm  ajid  elevate  thoir  despondency  by  his  speeches  in  the  Pnyx  and  Ceramicus — 
not  only  did  he  refuse  to  call  an  Assembly — but  no  attempt  at  an  Assembly  was  ever 
made.  The  groups  in  the  streets  never  grew  into  a  mob,  and  even  when  to  the  hor- 
rors of  a  blockade  were  added  those  of  a  pestilence,  public  tranquillity  was  never  for 
a  moment  disturbed— the  order  of  the  constitution  was  never  for  a  moment  infringed. 


429  b.  C]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  141 

Demagogues  now  arose,  chief  among  whom  was  Cleoii,  a 
cruel,  arrogant  boaster,  who  gained  power  by  flattering  the 
populace.  About  this  time,  also,  the  Spartans  began  to 
build  ships  to  dispute  the  empire  of  the  sea,  on  which 
Athens  had  so  long  triumphed. 

The  memorable  siege  of  Plataea,  which  began  in  the 
third  year  of  the  war,  illustrates  the  desperation  and  destruc- 
tion which  characterized  this  terrible  struggle  of  twenty- 
seven  years.  In  spite  of  Pausanias's  oath  (p.  134),  Archida- 
mus  with  the  Spartan  army  attacked  this  city,  which  was 
defended  by  only  four  hundred  and  eighty  men.  First,  the 
Spartan  general  closed  every  outlet  by  a  wooden  palisade, 
and  then  constructed  an  inclined  plane  of  earth  and  stone, 
up  which  his  men  could  advance  to  hurl  their  weapons 
against  the  city.  This  work  cost  seventy-days  labor  of  the 
whole  army,  but  the  garrison  undermined  the  mound  and 
destroyed  it  entirely.    Next,  the  Spartans  built  around  the 

And  yet  the  man  who  thus  swayed  the  minds  of  his  fellow-citizens  was  the  reverse 
of  a  demagogue.  Unlike  his  aristocratic  rival,  Cimon,  he  never  won  their  favor  by 
indiscriminate  bounty.  Unlike  his  democratic  successor,  Cleon,  he  never  influenced 
their  passions  by  coarse  invectives.  Unlike  his  kinsman,  Alcibiades,  he  never  sought 
to  dazzle  them  by  a  display  of  his  genius  or  his  wealth.  At  the  very  moment  when 
Pericles  was  preaching  the  necessity  of  manful  devotion  to  the  common  country,  he 
was  himself  the  greatest  of  sufferers.  The  epidemic  carried  off  his  two  sons,  his 
sister,  several  other  relatives,  and  his  best  and  most  useful  political  friends.  Amidst 
this  train  of  calamities  he  maintained  his  habitual  self-command,  until  the  death  of 
his  favorite  son  Paralus  left  his  house  without  a  legitimate  representative  to  maintain 
the  family  and  its  hereditary  sacred  rites.  On  this  final  blow— the  greatest  that, 
according  to  the  Greek  feeling,  could  befall  any  hum^n  being— though  he  strove  to 
command  himself  as  before,  yet  at  the  obsequies  of  the  young  man,  when  it  became 
his  d'ity  to  place  a  garland  on  the  dead  body,  his  grief  became  uncontrollable,  and  he 
burst  into  tears.  Every  feeling  of  resentment  seems  to  have  passed  away  from  the 
hearts  of  the  Athenian  people  before  the  touching  sight  of  the  marble  majesty  of 
their  great  statesman  yielding  to  the  common  emotion  of  their  own  excitable  nature. 
Every  measure  was  passed  which  could  alleviate  this  deepest  sorrow  of  his  declining 
age.  But  it  was  too  late,  and  he  soon  sank  into  the  stupor  from  which  he  never 
recovered.  As  he  lay  apparently  passive  in  the  hands  of  the  nurse,  who  had  hung 
round  his  neck  the  amulets  which  in  life  and  health  he  had  scorned  ;  whilst  his 
friends  were  dwelling  with  pride  on  the  nine  trophies  which  on  Bceotia  and  Samos  and 
on  the  shores  of  Peloponnesus  bore  witness  to  his  success  during  his  forty-years 
career,  the  dying  man  suddenly  broke  in  with  the  emphatic  words,  'That  of  which  I 
am  most  proud  you  have  left  unsaid— No  Athenian,  through  mj  fault,  was  ever 
clothed  in  the  black  garb  of  mourning.'  '''—Quarterly  Review. 


429-427  B.C.]    THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  143 

city  two  concentric  walls,  and  roofed  over  the  space  between 
them  so  as  to  give  shelter  to  the  soldiers  on  guard.  For  two 
long  years  the  Platseans  were  shut  in  and  endured  all  the 
horrors  of  a  siege.  Provisions  now  ran  low,  and  one  stormy 
December  night  a  part  of  the  men  stole  out  of  the  gate,  and 
placing  their  ladders  against  the  Spartan  wall,  climbed  to 
the  top,  killed  the  sentinels,  and  escaped  through  the  midst 
of  the  enemy  with  the  loss  of  only  one  man.  The  rest  of 
the  garrison  were  thus  enabled  to  hold  out  some  time  longer. 
But  at  length  their  food  was  exhausted,  and  they  were 
forced  to  surrender.  The  cruel  Spartans  put  every  man  to 
death,  and  then,  to  please  the  Thebans,  razed  the  city  to 
the  ground.  Heroic  little  Plataea  was  thus  blotted  out  of 
the  map  of  Greece. 

Alcibiades,  a  young  nobleman,  the  nephew  of  Pericles 
and  pupil  of  Socrates,  by  his  wealth,  beauty,  and  talent, 
next  won  the  ear  of  the  crowd.  Reckless  and  dissolute, 
with  no  heart,  conscience,  or  principle,  he  cared  for  nothing 
except  his  own  ambitious  schemes.  Though  peace  had  then 
come  through  the  negotiations  of  Nicias,  the  favorite 
Athenian  general,  it  was  broken  by  the  influence  of  this 
demagogue,  and  the  bloody  contest  renewed. 

Expedition  to  Sicily  (415  b.  c). — The  oppressions  of 
the  tyrants  of  Syracuse,  a  Dorian  city  in  Sicily,  gave  an  ex- 
cuse for  seizing  that  island,  and  Alcibiades  advocated  this 
brilliant  scheme,  which  promised  to  make  Athens  irresistible. 
The  largest  fleet  and  army  Hellas  had  yet  sent  forth  were 
accordingly  equipped.  One  morning,  just  before  their  de- 
parture, the  busts  of  Hermes  that  were  placed  along  the  roads 
of  Attica  to  mark  the  distance,  and  in  front  of  the  Athenian 
houses  as  protectors  of  the  people,  were  found  to  be  muti- 
lated. The  populace  in  dismay,  lest  a  curse  should  fall  on 
the  city,  demanded  the  punishment  of  those  who  had  com- 


144  GREECE.  [415  B.  c. 

mitted  this  sacrilegious  act.  It  was  probable  that  some 
drunken  revelers  had  done  the  mischief;  but  the  enemies  of 
Alcibiades  made  the  people  belieye  that  he  was  the  offender. 
After  he  sailed  he  was  cleared  of  this  charge,  but  a  new  one 
impended.  This  was  that  he  had  privately  performed  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries  (p.  184)  for  the  amusement  of  his 
friends.  To  answer  this  heinous  offence,  Alcibiades  was 
summoned  home,  but  he  escaped  to  Sparta,  and  gave  the 
rival  city  the  benefit  of  his  powerful  support.  Meanwhile 
the  exasperated  Athenians  condemned  him  to  death,  seized 
his  property,  and  called  upon  the  priests  to  pronounce  him 
accursed. 

The  expedition  had  now  lost  the  only  man  who  could 
have  made  it  a  success.  Nicias,  the  commander,  was  old 
and  sluggish.  Disasters  followed  apace.  Finally  Gylippus, 
a  famous  Spartan  general,  came  to  the  help  of  Syracuse. 
Athens  sent  a  new  fleet  and  army,  but  she  did  not  furnish  a 
better  leader,  and  the  reinforcement  served  only  to  increase 
the  final  ruin.  In  a  great  sea-fight  in  the  harbor  of  Syracuse 
the  Athenian  ships  were  defeated,  and  the  troops  attempt- 
ing to  flee  by  land  were  overtaken  and  forced  to  surrender 
(413  B.  c). 

Fall  of  Athens. — The  proud  city  was  now  doomed. 
Her  best  soldiers  were  dying  in  the  dungeons  of  Syracuse. 
Her  treasury  was  empty.  Alcibiades  was  pressing  on  her 
destruction  with  all  his  revengeful  genius.  A  Spartan  gar- 
rison held  Deceleia,  in  the  heart  of  Attica.  The  Athenian 
allies  dropped  off.  The  Ionic  colonies  revolted.  Yet  with 
the  energy  of  despair  Athens  dragged  out  the  unequal  con- 
test nine  years  longer.  The  recall  of  Alcibiades  gave  a 
gleam  of  success.  But  victory  at  the  price  of  submission 
to  such  a  master  was  too  costly,  and  he  was  dismissed. 
Persian  gold  gave  weight  to  the  Lacedaemonian  sword  and 


405  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  145 

equipped  her  fleet.  The  last  ships  of  Athens  were  taken 
by  Lysander,  the  Spartan,  at  jEgos  Potamos  (Goat's-river). 
Sparta  had  got  control  of  the  sea,  and  Athens,  its  harbor 
blockaded,  suffered  famine,  in  addition  to  the  horrors  of 
war.  The  imperial  city  surrendered  at  last  (404  b.  c).  Her 
ships  were  given  up ;  and  the  Long  Walls  were  torn  down 
amid  the  playing  of  flutes  and  the  rejoicings  of  dancers, 
crowned  with  garlands,  as  for  a  festival.  "  That  day  was 
deemed  by  the  Peloponnesians,"  says  Xenophon,  "the  com- 
mencement of  liberty  for  Greece." 

Thus  ended  the  Peloponnesian  War  twenty-seven  years 
after  its  commencement,  and  seventy-six  years  after  Salamis, 
which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Athenian  poAver.  Athens 
had  fallen,  but  she  possessed  a  kingdom  of  which  Sparta 
could  not  deprive  her.  She  still  remained  the  mistress  of 
Greece  in  literature  and  art. 

The  Thirty  Tyrants. — A  Spartan  garrison  was  i^ow 
placed  in  the  Acropolis  at  Athens,  and  an  oligarchy  of  thirty 
persons  established.  A  reign  of  terror  followed.  The 
"  Thirty  Tyrants  "  put  hundreds  of  citizens  to  death  without 
form  of  trial.  After  they  had  ruled  only  eight  months  the 
Athenian  exiles  returned  in  arms,  overthrew  the  tyrants,  and 
re-established  a  democratic  government. 

Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand  (401  b.  c). — Now  that 
peace  had  come  at  home,  ten  thousand  restless  Greeks* 
were  away  helping  Cyrus  the  Younger,  satrap  of  Asia  Minor, 
to  dethrone  his  elder  brother,  Artaxerxes.  At  Cunaxa,  near 
Babylon,  they  routed  the  Persians.  But  Cyrus  fell,  and  to 
complete  their  misfortune  their  chief  officers  were  induced 
to  visit  the  enemy's  camp,  where  they  were  treacherously 
taken  prisoners.     Left  thus  in  the  heart  of  the  Persian  em- 

*  Greece  at  this  time  was  full  of  soldiers  of  fortune— men  who  made  war  a  trade, 
and  Berved  anybody  who  was  able  to  pay  them. 


146  GREECE.  [401  B.C. 

pire  the  little  army  chose  new  captains,  and  decided  to  cut 
its  way  home  again.  All  were  ignorant  alike  of  the  route 
and  the  language  of  the  people.  Hostile  troops  swarmed 
on  every  side.  Traitors  misled  them.  Famine  threatened 
them.  Snows  overwhelmed  them.  •  Yet  they  struggled  on 
for  months.  When  one  day  ascending  a  mountain,  there 
broke  from  the  van  the  joyful  shout  of  "  The  Sea  !  The 
Sea  !"  It  was  the  Euxine,  a  branch  of  that  sea  whose 
waters  washed  the  shores  of  their  beloved  Greece. 

About  three-fourths  of  the  original  number  survived  to 
tell  the  story  of  that  wonderful  march.  Such  an  exploit, 
while  it  honored  the  endtirance-of  the  Greek  soldier,  revealed 
the  weakness  of  the  Persian  empire. 


LACED^MON  AND   THEBAN  DOMINION. 

Lacedaemon  Rule  (405-371  b.  c). — Tempted  by  the 
glittering  prospect  of  Eastern  conquest  Sparta  sent  Agesila'us 
into  Asia.  His  success  there  made  Artaxerxes  tremble  for 
his  throne.  Again  Persian  gold  was  thrown  into  the  scale. 
The  Athenians  were  helped  to  rebuild  the  Long  Walls,  and 
soon  their  flag  floated  once  more  on  the  ^gean.  Conon,  the 
Athenian  admiral,  defeated  the  Spartan  fleet  off  Cnidus, 
near  Khodes  (394  b.  c).  In  Greece  the  Spartan  rule,  cruel 
and  coarse,  had  already  become  unendurable.  In  every 
town,  Sparta  sought  to  establish  an  oligarchy  of  ten  citizens 
favorable  to  herself,  and  a  harmost,  or  governor.  Wherever 
popular  liberty  asserted  itself,  she  endeavored  to  extinguish 
it  by  military  force.  But  Corinth,  Argos,  Thebes,  and 
Athens  struck  for  freedom.  Sparta  was  forced  to  recall 
Agesilaus.  Strangely  enough  she  now  made  friends  with 
the  Great  King,  who  dictated  the  Peace  of   Ajitalcidas 


887  B.C.]  THE     POLlTtCAL     HISTORY.  147 

(387  B.C.),*  which  ended  the  war,  and  gave  up  Asia  Minor 
to  him.  So  low  had  Hellas  fallen  since  the  days  of  Salamis 
and  Plataea  ! 

Theban  Rule  (371-362  B.C.).— At  the  very  height  of 
Sparta's  arrogance  her  humiliation  came.  The  Bceotian 
League  (p.  139)  haying  been  restored,  and  the  oligarchical 
governments  favorable  to  Sparta  overthrown,  a  Spartan 
army  invaded  that  state.  At  this  juncture  there  arose  in 
Thebes  a  great  general,  Epaminondas,  who  made  the  Theban 
army  the  best  in  the  land.  On  the  famous  field  of  Leuctra 
(371b.  c),  by  throwing  heavy  columns  against  the  long 
lines  of  Spartan  soldiers,  he  beat  them  for  the  first  time  in 
their  liistory.f  The  charm  of  Lacedaemonian  invincibility 
was  broken.  The  stream  of  Persian  gold  now  turned  into 
Thebes.  The  tyrannical  Spartan  harmosts  were  expelled 
from  all  the  cities.  To  curb  the  power  of  Sparta  the  inde- 
pendence of  Messenia,  after  three  centuries  of  slavery,  was 
re-established  (p.  120).  Arcadia  was  united  in  a  League, 
having  as  its  head  Magalopolis,  a  new  city  now  founded.  A 
wise,  pure-hearted  statesman,  Epaminondas  sought  to  com- 
bine Hellas,  and  not,  like  Athens  or  Sparta,  selfishly  to  rule 

*  This  peace  was  an  incident  of  mournful  import  in  Grecian  history.  Its  true 
character  cannot  be  better  described  than  by  a  brief  remarli  and  reply,  cited  in 
Plutarch  :  "  Alas  for  Hellas,"  observed  some  one  to  Agesilaus,  "  when  we  see  our 
Laconians  Medizing !  "  "  Nay,"  replied  the  Spartan  king,  "  say  rather  the  Medes 
(Persians)  Laconizing." 

t  The  Spartan  lines  were  twelve  files  deep.  Epaminondas  (fighting  en  echelon) 
made  his.  <it  the  point  where  he  wished  to  break  through,  fifty  files  deep.  At  his 
t^ide  alway«?  fought  his  intimate  friend  Peiopidas,  who  commanded  the  Sacred  Band. 
This  consisted  of  three  hundred  brothers-inarms,  men  who  had  known  one  another 
from  childhood,  and  were  sworn  to  live  and  die  together.  In  the  crisis  of  the  struggle, 
Epaminondas  cheered  his  men  with  the  words.  "One  step  forward."  While  the  by- 
standers after  the  battle  were  congratulating  him  over  his  victory,  he  replied  that 
his  greatest  pleasure  was  in  thinking  how  it  would  gratify  his  father  and  mother. 
Soon  after  Epaminondas  returned  from  the  battle  of  Leuctra,  his  enemies  secured 
his  ek'C*:ion  as  public  scavenger.  The  nobl3-spirited  man  immediately  accepted  the 
oflice,  declaring  that  "  the  place  did  not  confer  dignity  on  the  man,  but  the  man  on 
the  place  ";  and  executed  the  duties  of  this  unworthy  post  so  eflBciently  as  to  bafl3e 
the  malice  of  his  foes. 


148  GREECE.  [362B.C. 

it.  Athens  at  first  aided  him,  and  then,  jealous  of  his  suc- 
cess, sided  with  Lacedaemon.  At  Mantinea  (362  b.  c),  how- 
ever, Epaminondas  fought  his  last  battle,  and  died  at  the 
moment  of  victory  *  He  alone  made  Thebes  great,  and  she 
dropped  back  at  once  to  her  former  level. 

Three  states  in  succession— Athens,  Sparta,  and  Thebes — 
had  risen  to  take  the  lead  in  Greece.  Each  had  failed. 
Hellas  now  lay  a  mass  of  quarreling,  struggling  states, 
waiting  the  strong  hand  of  a  conqueror  to  mold  them  in 
his  grasp. 


MACEDONIAN    EMPIRE. 

Rise  of  Macedonia. — The  Macedonians  were  allied  to 
the  Greeks,  and  their  kings  took  part  in  the  Olympian 
games.  They  were,  however,  a  vei;y  different  people.  In- 
stead of  living  in  a  multitude  of  free  cities,  as  in  Greece, 
they  dwelt  in  the  country,  and  were  all  governed  by  one 
king.  The  polite  and  refined  Athenian  looked  upon  the 
coarse  Macedonian  as  almost  a  barbarian.  But  about  the 
time  of  the  fall  of  Athens  these  rude  northerners  were  fast 
taking  on  the  Greek  civiHzation. 

Philip  (359-336  b.  c.).— When  Philip  came  to  the  throne 
of  Macedonia  he  determined  to  be  recognized,  not  only  as  a 
Greek  among  Greeks,  but  as  the  head  of  all  Greece.  To 
this  he  bent  every  energy  of  his  strong,  crafty,  and  cruel 
mind.  He  enlarged  the  boundaries  of  his  kingdom,  and 
consolidated  it  into  a  compact  empire.  He  thoroughly 
organized  his  army,  and  formed  the  famous  Macedonian 

*  He  was  pierced  with  a  javelin,  and  to  extract  the  weapon  would  cause  his  death 
by  bleeding.  Being  carried  out  of  the  battle,  like  a  true  soldier  he  asked  first  about 
his  shield,  then  waited  to  learn  the  issue  of  the  contest.  Hearing  the  cries  of  vic- 
toJTT,  he  drew  out  the  shaft  with  his  own  hand,  and  died  a  few  moments  after. 


359  B.  c] 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY. 


149 


PORTRAIT  OF  PHILIP  OF  MACEDON. 


phalanx  *  that,  for  two  centuries  after,  decided  the  day  on 
every  field  on  which  it  appeared.  He  craftily  mixed  in 
Grecian  aflfairs,  and  took  such  an  active  part  in  the  Sacred 
War  t  (355-346  B.  c.)  that  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Amphictyonic 
Council  (p.  115).  Demosthenes, 
the  great  Athenian  orator,  seemed 
the  only  man  clear-headed  enougli 
to  detect  Philip's  scheme.  11  i 
eloquent  Philippics  (p.  202)  at  last 
aroused  his  apathetic  countryuien 
to  a  sense  of  their  danger.  The 
Second  Sacred  War,  declared  by  the 
Amphictyons  against  the  Locrians 
for  alleged  sacrilege,  having  been 
intrusted  to  Philip,  that  monarch 
marched  through  Thermopylae,  and 
his  designs  against  the  liberties  of  Greece  became  but  too 
evident.  Thebes  and  Athens  now  took  the  field.  But  at 
ClicBronea  (338  b.  c.)  the  Macedonian  phalanx  annihilated 
their  armies,  the  Sacred  Band  perishing  to  a  man. 
"Greece  was  prostrate  at  Philip's  feet.     In  a  congress  of 

*  The  peculiar  feature  of  this  body  was  that  the  men  were  armed  with  huge 
lances,  twenty-one  feet  long.  The  lines  were  placed  so  that  the  front  rank,  composed 
of  the  strongest  and  most  experienced  soldiers,  was  protected  by  a  bristling  mass  of 
five  rows  of  lance-points,  their  own  extending  fifteen  feet  before  them,  and  the  rest 
twelve,  nine,  six,  and  three  feet  respectively.  Formed  in  a  solid  mass,  usually  six- 
teen files  deep,  shield  touching  shield,  and  marching  with  the  precision  of  a  machine, 
the  phalanx  charge  was  irresistible.  The  Spartans  carrying  spears  only  about  half 
as  long  could  not  reach  the  Macedonians. 

t  The  pretext  for  the  First  Sacred  War  is  said  to  have  been  that  the  Phocians 
had  cultivated  lands  consecrated  to  Apollo.  The  Amphictyonic  Council,  led  by 
Thebes,  inflicted  a  heavy  fine  upon  them.  Thereupon  they  seized  the  Temple  at 
Delphi,  and  finally,  to  furnish  means  for  prolonging  the  struggle,  sold  the  riches 
accumulated  from  the  pious  offerings  of  the  men  of  a  better  day.  The  Grecians 
were  first  shocked  and  then  demoralized  by  this  impious  act.  The  holiest  objects 
circulated  among  the  people  and  were  put  to  common  uses.  All  reverence  for  the 
gods  and  sacred  things  was  lost.  The  ancient  patriotism  went  with  the  religion, 
and  Hellas  had  forever  fiillen  from  her  high  estate.  Everywhere  her  sons  were  ready 
to  sell  their  swords  to  the  highest  bidder. 


150  GREECE.  [337-6  B.C. 

all  the  states  except  Sparta,  he  was  appointed  to  lead  their 
united  forces  against  Persia.  But  while  preparing  to  start 
he  was  assassinated  at  his  daughter's  marwage  feast. 


A  TETRADRACHM  OF  ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT. 

Alexander,*  Philip's  son,  succeeded  to  his  throne  and 
ambitious  projects.     Though  only  twenty  years  old  he  was 

*  On  the  day  of  Alexander's  birth,  Philip  received  news  of  the  defeat  of  the 
lUyrians,  and  that  his  horses  had  won  in  the  Olympian  chariot-races.  Overwhelmed 
by  such  fortune  the  monarch  exclaimed,  "  Great  Jupiter,  send  me  only  some  slight 
reverse  in  return  for  so  many  blessings  !  "  That  same  day  also  the  famous  Temple 
of  Diana,  at  Ephesus,  was  burned  by  an  incendiary.  Alexander  was  wont  to  consider 
this  an  omen  that  he  should  himself  kindle  a  flame  in  Asia.  On  his  father's  side  he  was 
said  to  be  descended  from  Hercules,  and  on  hie  mother's  from  Achilles.  He  became 
a  pupil  of  Aristotle  (p.  176),  to  whom  Philip  wrote  announcing  Alexander's  birth, 
saying  that  he  knew  not  which  gave  him  the  greater  pleasure,  that  he  had  a  son  or 
that  Aristotle  could  be  his  son's  teacher.  The  young  prince  at  fourteen  tamed  the 
noble  horse  Bucephalus,  which  no  one  at  the  Macedonian  court  dared  to  mount;  at 
sixteen,  he  saved  his  father  in  battle  ;  and  at  eighteen,  defeated  the  Sacred  Band 
upon  the  field  at  Chseronea.  Before  setting  out  upon  his  Persian  expedition  he  con- 
sulted the  oracle  at  Delphi.  The  priestess  refused  to  go  to  the  shrine,  as  it  was  an 
unlucky  day.  Alexander  thereupon  grasped  her  arm.  "Ah,  my  son,"  exclaimed 
she,  "thou  art  irresistible!"  "Enough,"  shouted  the  delighted  monarch,  "I  ask 
no  other  reply."  He  was  equally  happy  of  thought  at  Gordium.  Here  he  was  shown 
the  famous  Gordian  knot,  which,  it  was  said,  no  one  could  untie  except  the  one  des- 
tined to  be  the  conqueror  of  Asia.  He  tried  to  unravel  the  cord,  but  failing,  drew 
his  sword  and  severed  it  at  a  blow.  Alexander  always  retained  a  warm  love  for  his 
mother,  Olympias.  She,  however,  was  a  violent  woman.  Antip'ater,  who  was  left 
governor  of  Macedon  during  Alexander's  absence,  wrote  complaining  of  her  conduct. 
"  Ah,"  said  the  king,  "  Antipater  does  not  know  that  one  tear  of  a  mother  will  blot 
out  ten  thousand  of  his  letters."  Unfortunately,  the  hero  who  subdued  the  known 
world  had  never  conquered  himself.  In  a  moment  of  drunken  passion  he  slew  Clitus, 
his  dearest  friend,  who  had  saved  his  life  in  battle.  He  shut  himself  up  for  days 
after  this  horrible  deed,  lamenting  his  crime,  and  refusing  to  eat  or  to  transact  any 
business.  Yet  in  soberness  and  calmness  he  tortured  and  hanged  Callisthenes,  a 
Greek  author,  because  he  would  not  worship  him  as  a  god.  Carried  away  by  his 
success,  he  finally  sent  to  Greece  ordering  h;s  name  to  be  enrolled  among  the  deities. 
Said  the  Spartans  in  reply,  "  If  Alexander  will  be  a  god,  let  him." 


336  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  151 

more  than  his  fathei-'s  equal  in  statesmanship  and  military 
skill.  Thebes  having  revolted,  he  leveled  the  city  to  the 
ground,  and  sold  its  inhabitants  as  slaves,  sparing  only  the 
house  of  Pindar  the  poet.  This  terrible  example  quieted 
all  opposition.  He  was  at  once  made  captain-general  of  the 
Grecian  forces  to  invade  Persia,  and  soon  after  he  set  out 
upon  that  perilous  expedition  from  which  he  never  returned. 
Alexander's  Marches  and  Conquests. — In  334  b.  c. 
Alexander  crossed  the  Hellespont  with  thirty  thousand  in- 
fantry and  four  thousand  five  hundred  cavalry.  He  was  the 
first  to  leap  on  the  Asiatic  shore.*  Pressing  eastward,  he 
defeated  the  Persians  in  two  great  battles,  one  at  the  river 
Granicus,  and  the  other  at  Issus.  f  Then  he  turned  south 
and  besieged  Tyre.  To  reach  the  island  on  which  the  city 
stood,  he  built  a  stone  pier  two  hundred  feet  wide  and  half 
a  mile  long,  on  which  he  rolled  his  ponderous  machines, 
breached  the  wall,  and  carried  the  place  by  a  desperate 
assault.  Thence  passing  into  Egypt,  that  country  fell  with- 
out a  blow.  Here  he  founded  the  famous  city  of  Alexandria. 
Next  he  resumed  his  eastern  march,  and  routed  the  Persian 
host,  a  million  strong,  on  the  field  of  Arhela.  The  Greeks 
entered  Babylon  in  triumph.  Persepolis  was  burned  to 
avenge  the  destruction  of  Athens  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  before  (p.  132).  Darius  was  pursued  so  closely  that, 
to  prevent  his  falling  into  the  conqueror's  possession,  he  was 
slain  by  a  noble. 

*  Alexander  was  a  great  lover  of  Homer  and  always  slept  with  a  copy  of  the  Iliad 
under  his  pillow.  While  his  army  was  now  landing  he  visited  the  site  of  Troy,  ofEered 
a  sacrifice  at  the  tomb  of  Achilles,  hung  up  his  own  shield  in  the  temple,  and  taking 
down  one  said  to  have  belonged  to  a  hero  of  the  Trojan  War,  ordered  it  to  be 
henceforth  carried  before  him  in  battle. 

t  Just  before  this  engagement  Alexander  was  attacked  by  a  fever  in  consequence 
of  bathing  in  the  cold  water  of  the  Cydnus.  Wliile  sick  he  was  informed  that  his 
physician  Philip  had  been  bribed  by  Darius  to  poison  him.  As  Philip  came  into  the 
room  Alexander  handed  him  the  letter  containing  the  warning,  and  then,  before  the 
doctor  could  speak,  swallowed  the  medicine.  His  confidence  was  rewarded  by  a 
speedy  recovery. 


152  GREECE.  [326  b.  c. 

The  mysterious  East  still  alluring  him  on,  Alexander 
exploring,  conquering,*  founding  cities,  at  last  reached  the 
river  Hyph'asis,  where  his  army  refused  to  proceed  further 
in  the  unknown  regions.  Instead  of  going  directly  back, 
he  built  vessels,  and  descended  the  Indus  ;  thence  the  fleet 
cruised  along  the  coast,  while  the  troops  returned  through 
Gedrosia  (Beloochistan)  suffering  fearful  hardships  in  its 
inhospitable  deserts.f  When  he  reached  Babylon,  ten  years 
had  elapsed  since  he  crossed  the  Hellespont. 

The  next  season,  while  just  setting  out  from  Babylon 
upon  a  new  expedition  into  Arabia,  he  died  (323  B.C.). 
With  him  perished  his  schemes  and  his  empire. 

Alexander's  plan  was  to  mold  the  diverse  nations 
which  he  had  conquered  into  one  vast  empire,  with  the 
capital  at  Babylon.  Having  been  the  Cyrus,  he  desired  to 
be  the  Darius  of  the  Persians.  He  sought  to  break  down 
the  distinctions  between  the  Greek  and  the  Persian.  He 
married  the  Princess  Roxana,  the  ^' Pearl  of  the  East," 
and  induced  many  of  his  army  to  take  Persian  wives.  He 
enlisted  twenty  thousand  Persians  into  the  Macedonian 
phalanx,  and  appointed  natives  to  high  oflBce.  He  wore  the 
Eastern  dress,  and  adopted  in  his  court  Oriental  ceremonies. 
He  respected  the  religion  and  the  government  of  the  various 
countries,  restrained  the  satraps,  and  ruled  more  beneficently 
than  their  own  monarch s. 

The  Results  of  the  thirteen  years  of  Alexander's  reign 
have  not  yet  disappeared.     Great  cities  were  founded  by 

*  Porus,  an  Indian  prince,  held  the  banks  of  the  Hydaspes  with  three  hundred 
war-chariots  and  two  hundred  elephants.  The  Indians  being  defeated,  Porus  was 
brought  into  Alexander's  presence.  When  asked  what  he  wished.  Poms  replied, 
"  Nothing  except  to  Ue  treated  like  a  king."  Alexander,  struck  by  the  answer,  gave 
him  his  liberty  and  enlarged  his  territoi-y. 

t  One  day  while  Alexander  was  parched  with  thirst  a  drink  of  water  was  given 
him,  but  he  threw  it  on  the  ground  lest  the  sight  of  his  pleasure  should  aggravate  the 
suffering  of  his  men. 


336-333  B.C.]    THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY, 


153 


him,  or  his  generals,  that  are  still  marts  of  trade.  Com- 
merce received  new  life.  Greek  culture  and  civilization 
spread  over  the  Orient,  and  the  Greek  language  became,  if 
not  the  common  speech,  at  least  the  medium  of  communi- 
cation among  educated  people  from  the  Adriatic  to  the 
Indus.  So  it  came  about  that  when  Greece  had  lost  her 
national  liberty  she  suddenly  attained,  through  her  con- 
querors, a  world-wide  empire  over  the  minds  of  men. 

But  while  Asia  became  thus  Hellenized,  the  East  exerted 
a  reflex  influence  upon  Hellas.    As  Kawlinson  well  remarks: 

"  The  Oriental  habits  of  servility  and  adulation  superseded  the  old  free-spoken 
independence  and  manliness  ;  patriotism  and  public  spirit  disappeared ;  luxury 
increased ;  literature  lost  its  vigor ;  art  deteriorated ;  and  the  people  sank  into  a 
nation  of  pedants,  parasites,  and  adventurers." 


ALEXAl^DER'S    SUOOESSORS. 

Alexander's  principal  generals,  soon  after  his  death, 
divided  his  empire  among  themselves.  A  mortal  struggle 
of  twenty-two  years  followed,  during  which  these  officers, 
released  from  the  strong  hand  of  their  master,  ^'^  fought, 
quarreled,  grasped,  and  wrangled  like  loosened  tigers  in  an 
amphitheatre."  The  greed  and  jealousy  of  the  generals,  or 
kings  as  they  were  called,  were  equaled  only  by  the  treachery 
of  their  men.  Finally,  by  the  decisive  battle  of  Ipsns, 
(301  B.  c),  the  conflict  was  ended,  and  the  following  distri- 
bution of  the  territory  made  : 


Ptolemy 
received  Egypt,  and 
conquered  all  of  Pal- 
estine,     Phoenicia, 
and  Cyprus. 


Lysim'achKs 
received  Thrace  and 
nearly  all   of   Asia 
Minor. 


Sdeucus 
received  Syria  and 
the  East,  and  he  af- 
terward conquered 
Asia  Minor,  Lysim- 
achus  being  slain. 


Cassander 
received     Macedon 
and  Greece. 


Ptolemy  founded  a  flourishing  Greek  kingdom  in  Egypt. 
The  Greeks,  attracted  by  his  benign  rule,  flocked  thither  in 


154  GREECE.  [323  B.C. 

multitudes.  The  Egyptians  were  protected  in  their  ancient 
religion,  laws,  and  customs,  so  that  the  stiff-necked  rebels 
against  the  Persian  rule  quietly  submitted  to  the  Macedonian. 
The  Jews  *  in  large  numbers  found  safety  under  his  paternal 
government.  This  threefold  population  gave  to  the  second 
civilization  which  grew  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  a  pecu- 
liar and  cosmopolitan  character.  The  statues  of  the  Greek 
gods  were  mingled  with  those  of  Osiris  and  Isis ;  the  same 
hieroglyphic  word  was  used  to  express  a  Greek  and  a  lower 
Egyptian;  and  even  the  Jews  forgot  the  language  of 
Palestine,  and  talked  Greek.  Alexandria  became  under  the 
Ptolemies,  what  Memphis  was  under  the  Rameses — a  center 
of  commerce  and  civilization.  The  building  of  a  commo- 
dious harbor  and  a  superb  light-house,  and  the  opening  of 
a  canal  to  the  Red  Sea,  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the  trade 
with  Arabia  and  India.  Grecian  architects  made  Alexandria, 
with  its  temples,  obelisks,  palaces,  and  theatres,  the  most 
beautiful  city  of  the  times.  Its  white  marble  Pharos  was 
one  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World.  At  the  center  of 
the  city,  where  its  two  grand  avenues  crossed  each  other,  in 
the  midst  of  gardens  and  fountains,  stood  the  Mausoleum, 
which  contained  the  body  of  Alexander,  embalmed  in  the 
Egyptian  manner. 

The  Alexandrian  Museum  and  Library  founded  by 
Ptolemy  I.  (Sotor),  but  greatly  extended  by  Ptolemy  II. 
(Philadelphus),  and  enriched  by  Ptolemy  III.  (Euergetes), 
were  the  grandest  monuments  of  this  Greco-Egyptian 
kingdom.  The  Library  comprised  at  one  time,  in  all  its 
collections,  seven  hundred  thousand  volumes.  The  Museum 
was  a  stately  marble  edifice  surrounded  by  a  portico,  beneath 
which  the  philosophers  walked  and  conversed.    The  pro- 

*  They  had  a  temple  at  Alexandria,  similar  to  the  one  at  Jerusalem,  and  for  their 
use  the  Old  Testament  was  translated  into  Greek  (275-250  b.  c).  From  the  number 
of  scholars  engaged  in  this  work  it  is  termed  the  Septuagint  version, 


333-222  B.C.]     THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  155 

fessors  and  teachers  were  all  kept  at  the  public  expense. 
There  were  connected  with  this  institution  a  botanical  and 
a  zoological  garden,  an  astronomical  observatory,  and  a 
chemical  laboratory.  To  this  grand  University  resorted  the 
scholars  of  the  world.  (See  Steele's  Astronomy,  p.  19.)  At 
one  time  in  its  history,  there  were  in  attendance  as  many  as 
fourteen  thousand  persons.  While  wars  shook  Europe  and 
Asia,  Archimedes  and  Hero  the  philosophers,  Apelles  the 
painter,  Hipparchus  and  Ptolemy  the  astronomers,  Euclid 
the  geometer,  Eratosthenes  and  Strabo  the  geographers, 
Manetho  the  historian,  Aristophanes  the  rhetorician,  and 
Apollonius  the  poet,  labored  in  quiet  upon  the  peaceful 
banks  of  the  Nile.  Probably  no  other  school  of  learning 
has  ever  exerted  so  wide  an  influence.  When  Caesar  wished 
to  revise  the  calendar,  he  sent  for  Sosigenes  the  Alexandrian. 
Even  the  early  Christian  church  drew,  from  what  the  ancients 
loved  to  call  ^^the  divine  school  at  Alexandria,"  some  of  its 
most  eminent  Fathers,  as  Origen  and  Athanasius.  Modern 
science  itself  dates  its  rise  from  the  study  of  Nature  that 
began  under  the  shadow  of  the  Pyramids. 

Last  of  the  Ptolemies. — The  first  three  Ptolemies  were 
judicious  monarchs.  Then  came  ten  weak-minded  and 
often  corrupt  successors.  The  last  Ptolemy  married  his 
sister,  the  famous  Cleopatra  (p.  254),  and  shared  with  her 
the  throne.  At  her  death  Egypt  became  a  province  of 
Kome  (30  B.C.). 

Seleucus  was  a  conqueror,  and  his  kingdom  at  one  time 
stretched  from  the  ^gean  to  India,  comprising  nearly  all 
the  former  Persian  empire.  He  was  a  famous  founder  of 
cities,  nine  of  which  were  named  for  himself,  and  sixteen 
for  his  son  Antiochus.  One  of  the  latter,  Antioch  in  Sjrria 
{Acts  xi.  26,  etc.),  became  the  capital  instead  of  Babylon. 
The  descendants  of   Seleucus  (Seleucidas)  were  unable  to 


156  GREECE.  [65  B.C. 

retain  his  yast  conquests,  and  one  province  after  another 
dropped  away  until  the  wide  empire  finally  shrank  into 
Syria,  which  was  grasped  by  the  Romans  (65  b.  c). 

Several  independent  States  arose  in  Asia  during  this 
eventful  period.  Pergamus  became  an  independent  king- 
dom on  the  death  of  Seleucus  I.  (280  b.  c),  and,  mainly 
through  the  favor  of  Eome,  absorbed  Lydia,  Phrygia,  and 
other  provinces.  The  city  of  Pergamus,  with  its  school  of 
literature  and  magnificent  public  buildings,  rivaled  the 
glories  of  Alexandria.  The  rapid  growth  of  its  library  so 
aroused  the  jealousy  of  Ptolemy  that  he  forbade  the  export 
of  papyrus ;  whereupon  Eumenes,  king  of  Pergamus,  resorted 
to  parchment,  which  he  used  so  extensively  for  writing  that 
this  material  took  the  name  of  pergamena.  By  the  will 
of  the  last  king  of  Pergamus,  the  kingdom  fell  to  Rome 
(p.  237).  Partliia  arose  about  255  B.  c.  It  gradually  spread 
until  at  one  time  it  reached  from  the  Indus  to  the  Euphrates. 
Never  absorbed  into  the  Roman  dominion,  it  remained 
through  the  palmy  days  of  that  empire  its  dreaded  foe. 
The  twenty-ninth  of  the  Arsacidae,  as  its  kings  were  called, 
was  driven  from  the  throne  by  Artaxerxes,  a  descendant  of 
the  ancient  line  of  Persia,  and,  after  an  existence  of  about 
five  centuries,  the  Parthian  empire  came  to  an  end.  It  was 
succeeded  by  the  new  Persian  monarchy  or  kingdom  of  the 
Sassanidse  (226-652  a.  d.).  Pontus,  a  rich  kingdom  of  Asia 
Minor,  became  famous  through  the  long  wars  its  great  king 
Mithridates  V.  carried  on  with  Rome  (p.  243). 

Greece  and  Macedonia,  after  Alexander's  time,  pre- 
sented little  historic  interest.*  The  chief  feature  was  that 
nearly  all  the  G-recian  states,  except  Sparta,  in  order  to  make 

*  In  279  B.  c.  there  was  a  fearful  irruption  of  the  Gauls  under  Brennus.  (See 
Brief  History  of  France  ^\>.  10.)  Greece  was  ravaged  by  the  barbarians.  They  were 
finally  expelled,  and  a  remnant  founded  a  province  in  Asia  Minor  named  Gallatia,  to 
whose  people  in  later  times  St.  Paul  directed  one  of  his  Epistles. 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTOKY.  157 

head  against  Macedonia,  formed  leagues  similar  to  that  of 
our  government  during  the  Revolution.  The  principal  ones 
were  the  Achceau  and  the  ^tolian.  But  the  old  feuds  and 
petty  strifes  continued  until  all  were  swallowed  up  in  the 
world-wide  dominion  of  Rome  (p.  236). 

Athens  under  the  Romans  was  prosperous.  Other 
centers  of  learning  arose— Alexandria,  Marseilles,  Tarsus ; 
but  still  scholars  from  all  parts  of  the  extended  empire  of 
Rome  flocked  to  Athens  to  complete  their  education.  True, 
war  had  laid  waste  the  groves  of  Plato  and  the  garden  in 
which  Epicurus  lived,  yet  the  charm  of  old  associations 
continued  to  linger  around  these  sacred  places,  and  the 
Four  Schools  of  Philosophy  (p.  175)  maintained  their  hold 
on  public  thought.*  The  Emperor  Hadrian  established 
a  library,  and  built  a  pantheon  and  a  gymnasium.  The 
Antonines  began  a  system  of  state  endowments.  So  late  as 
the  close  of  the  4th  century  a  writer  describes  the  airs  put 
on  by  those  who  thought  themselves  ^^  demigods,  so  proud 
are  they  of  having  looked  on  the  Academy  and  Lyceum, 
and  the  Porch  where  Zeno  reasoned."  With  the  fall  of 
Paganism,  however,  and  the  growth  of  legal  studies — so  pecu- 
liar to  the  Roman  character — Athens  lost  her  importance, 
and  her  schools  were  closed  by  Justinian  (529  A.  d.). 

*  It  is  strange  to  hear  Cicero,  in  De  Mnibus,  speak  of  these  scenes  as  already  in 
his  time  classic  ground :  "  After  hearing  Antiochus  in  the  Ptolemaeum,  in  the  com- 
pany of  Piso  and  my  brother,  and  Pomponius  and  my  cousin  Lucius,  for  whom  I  had 
a  brother's  love,  we  agreed  to  take  our  evening  walk  in  the  Academy.  So  we  all  met 
at  Piso's  house,  and,  chatting  as  we  went,  walked  the  six  stadia  between  the  Gate 
Dipyliim  and  the  Academy.  When  we  reached  the  scenes  so  justly  famous  we 
found  the  quietude  we  craved.  'Is  it  a  natural  sentiment,'  asked  Piso,  ' or  a  mere 
illusion,  which  makes  us  more  afEected  when  we  see  the  spots  frequented  by  men 
worth  remembering  than  when  we  merely  hear  their  deeds  or  read  their  works  ?  It 
is  thus  that  I  feel  touched  at  present,  for  I  think  of  Plato,  who,  as  we  are  told,  was 
wont  to  lecture  here.  Not  only  do  those  gardens  of  his,  close  by,  remind  me  of  him, 
but  I  seem  to  fancy  him  before  my  eyes.    Here  stood  Speusippus,  here  Xenocrates, 

here  his  hearer  Polemon '    'Yes,'  said  Quintus,  'what  you  say,  Piso,  is  quite 

true,  for  as  I  was  coming  hither,  Colonus,  yonder,  called  my  thoughts  away,  and  made 
me  fancy  that  I  saw  its  inmate  Sophocles,  for  whom  you  know  my  passionate  admi- 
ration.' 'And  I,  too,'  said  Pomponius,  'whom  you  often  attack  for  my  devotion  to 
Epicurus,  spend  much  time  in  his  garden,  which  we  passed  lately  in  our  walk.'  " 


158 


GREECE. 


2.    THE    CIVILIZATION. 

"  Athens  is  the  echool  of  Greece,  and  the  Athenian  is  best  fitted,  by  diversity  of 
gifts,  for  the  graceful  performance  of  all  life's  duties."— Fericks. 

Athens  and  Sparta.— Though  the  Greeks  comprised  many 
distinct  tribes,  inhabiting  separate  cities,  countries,  and  islands, 
having  different  laws,  dialects,  manners,  and  customs,  Athens  and 
Sparta  were  the  great  centers  of  Hellenic  life.  These  two  cities 
differed  widely  from  each  other  in  thought,  habits,  and  tastes. 
Sparta  had  no  part  in  Grecian  art  or  literature.  "  There  w^as  no 
Spartan  sculptor,  no  Laconian  painter,  no  Lacedaemonian  poet." 
From  Athens,  on  the  contrary,  came  the  world's  master-pieces  in 
poetry,  oratory,  sculpture,  and  architecture. 


GREEK  GALLEY  WITH   THREE    BANKS   OF  OARS. 


Society. — The  Atheniajsts  boasted  that  they  were  Autochthons,* 
i.  e.,  sprung  from  the  soil  where  they  lived;  and  that  their  descent 
was  direct  from  the  sons  gf  the  gods.  The  ancient  Attic  tribes  were 
divided  into  phratries  or  fraternities;  the  phratries  into  gentes  or 
clans ;  and  the  gentes  into  hearths  or  families.  The  four  tribes  were 
bound  together  by  the  common  worship  of  Apollo  Patrons,  reputed 
father  of  their  mutual  ancestor.  Ion.  Each  phratry  had  its  partic- 
ular sacred  rites  and  civil  compact,  but  all  the  phratries  of  the  same 
tribe  joined  periodically  in  certain  ceremonies.  Each  gens  had  also 
its  own  ancestral  hero  or  god,  its  exclusive  privilege  of  priesthood, 

*  In  recognition  of  this  belief  they  wore  in  their  hair,  as  an  ornament,  a  golden 
grasshopper. 


THE     CIYILIZ  ATIOI^.  159 

its  compact  of  protection  and  defence,  and  its  special  burial-place. 
Last  of  all,  every  family  had  its  private  worship,  and  commemorated 
its  own  ancestors,  allowing  no  stranger  to  intrude.  This  association 
of  houses  and  brotherhoods  was  a  powerful  factor  in  the  early  social 
and  political  life  of  Greece. 

Athens  in  her  golden  days  had,  as  we  have  already  seen,  neither 
king  nor  aristocracy.  Every  free  citizen  possessed  a  voice  in 
the  general  government,  and  zealously  maintained  his  rights  and 
liberty  as  a  member  of  the  state.  Although  to  belong  to  an  old  and 
noble  house  gave  a  certain  position  among  all  true-born  Athenians, 
there  was  little  of  the  usual  exclusiveness  attending  great  wealth  or 
long  pedigree.  An  Athenian  might  be  forced  from  poverty  to  wear 
an  old  and  tattered  cloak,  or  be  only  the  son  of  a  humble  image- 
maker,  as  was  Socrates,  or  of  a  cutler,  as  was  Demosthenes,  yet,  if 
he  had  wit,  bravery,  and  talent,  he  was  as  welcome  to  the  brilliant 
private  saloons  of  Athens  as  were  the  richest  and  noblest  of  citizens. 

Trade  and  Merchandise  were  as  unpopular  in  most  parts  of 
Greece  as  in  Persia.  There  was  a  settled  idea  in  the  Greek  mind 
that  only  arms,  agriculture,  music,  and  gymnastics  were  occupations 
worthy  of  a  freeman.  To  profit  by  retail  trade  was  looked  upon  as 
a  sort  of  cheating,  and  handicrafts  were  despised  because  they  com- 
pelled men  to  stay  at  home  to  work,  and  gave  no  leisure  for  athletic 
exercises  or  social  culture.  In  Sparta,  where  even  agriculture  was 
despised  and  all  property  was  held  in  common,  an  artisan  had  neither 
public  influence  nor  political  rights  ;  while  in  Thebes,  no  one  who 
had  sold  in  the  market  within  ten  years  was  allowed  part  in  the 
government.  Even  in  democratic  Athens,  where  extensive  interests 
in  ship-building  and  navigation  produced  a  strong  sentiment  in  favor 
of  commerce,  the  poor  man  who  lived  on  less  than  ten  cents  a  day, 
earned  by  serving  on  juries*  or  in  other  public  capacities,  looked 
with  disdain  on  the  practical  mechanic  and  tradesman.  Conse- 
quently, most  of  the  Athenian  stores  and  shops  belonged  to  aliens, 

♦  There  were  ten  courts  in  Athens,  employing,  when  all  were  open,  six  thousand 
jurymen.  The  Athenians  had  such  a  passion  for  hearing  and  deciding  judicial  and 
political  questions  that  they  clamored  for  seats  in  the  jury-box.  Greek  literature 
abounds  with  satires  on  this  national  peculiarity.  In  one  of  Lucian's  dialogues, 
Menippus  is  represented  as  looking  down  from  the  moon  and  watching  the  character- 
istic pursuits  of  men.  "  The  northern  hordes  were  fighting,  the  Egyptians  were 
plowing,  the  Phoenicians  were  carrying  their  merchandise  over  the  sea,  the  Spartans 
were  whipping  their  children,  and  the  Athenians  were  sitting  in  the  jury-box.''''  So 
also  Aristophanes,  in  his  satire  called  The  Clouds.,  has  his  hero  (Strepsiades)  visit  the 
School  of  Socrates,  where  he  is  shown  a  map  of  the  world. 

Student.—"  And  here  lies  Athens." 

Strep.—"  Athens  1  nay,  go  to That  cannot  be.   I  see  no  law-courts  sitting  !  " 


160 


GREECE. 


who  paid  heavy  taxes  and  made  large  profits.  Solon  sought  to 
encourage  the  manufacturing  industries  and  himself  engaged  in 
commerce,  for  which  he  traveled;  Aristotle  kept  a  druggist's  shop 
in  Athens ;  and  even  Plato,  who  shared  the  national  prejudice  against 
artisans,  speculated  in  oil  during  his  Egyptian  journey. 

Sparta  with  her  two  kings,  powerful  ephors,  and  landed  aris- 
tocracy, presents  a  marked  contrast  to  Athens. 

The  two  Kings  were  supposed  to  have  descended  by  different 
lines  from  the  gods,  and  this  belief  preserved  to  them  what  little 
authority  they  retained  under  the  supremacy  of  the  ephors.  They 
offered  the  monthly  sacrifices  to  the  gods,  consulted  the  Delphian 
oracle — which  always  upheld  their  dignity — and  had  nominal  com- 
mand of  the  army.  On  the  other  hand,  war  and  its  details  were 
decided  by  the  ephors,  two  of  whom  accompanied  one  king  on  the 
march.  The  kings  were  obliged  monthly  to  bind  themselves  by  an 
oath  not  to  exceed  the  laws,  the  ephors  also  swearing  on  that  con- 
dition to  uphold  the  royal  authority.  In  case  of  default  the  kings 
were  tried  and  severely  fined,  or  had  their  houses  burned. 

The  population  of  Laconia,  as  we  have  seen,  comprised  Spartans, 
perioeki,  and  helots  (p.  119). 

The  Spartans  lived  in  the  city,  and  were 
the  only  persons  eligible  to  public  office.  So 
long  as  they  submitted  to  the  prescribed 
discipline  and  paid  their  quota  to  the  public 
mess,  they  were  Equals.  Those  who  were 
unable  to  pay  their  assessment,  lost  their 
franchise,  and  were  called  Inferiors;  but  by 
meeting  their  public  obligation  they  could 
at  any  time  regain  their  privileges. 

The  Periceki  were  also  freemen.  They  in* 
habited  the  hundred  townships  of  Laconia, 
having  more  or  less  liberty  of  local  manage- 
ment, but  subject  always  to  orders  from 
Sparta,  the  ephors  having  power  to  inflict 
the  death  penalty  upon  them  without  form 
of  trial. 

The  Helot  was  a  serf  bound  to  the  soil,  and 
belonged  not  so  much  to  the  master  as  to  the 
state.  He  was  the  pariah  of  the  land.  If  he 
dared  to  wear  a  Spartan  bonnet,  or  even  to  sing  a  Spartan  song,  he 
was  put  to  death.  The  old  Egyptian  kings  thinned  the  ranks  of 
their  surplus  rabble  by  that  merciless  system  of  forced  labor  which 


GRECIAN  PEASANT. 


THE    CIVILIZATIOK.  161 

produced  tlie  pyramids ;  the  Spartans  did  not  put  the  blood  of  their 
helots  to  such  useful  account,  but  when  they  became  too  powerful 
used  simply  the  knife  and  the  dagger.*  The  helot  served  in  war  as 
a  light-armed  soldier,  attached  to  a  Spartan  or  perioekian  hoplite.f 
Sometimes  he  was  clothed  in  heavy  armor,  and  was  given  freedom 
for  superior  bravery.  A  freed  helot,  however,  was  by  no  means 
equal  to  a  pericekus,  and  his  known  courage  made  him  more  than 
ever  a  man  to  be  watched. 

Literature. — In  considering  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  Babylonian, 
and  Persian  literature  we  have  had  only  fragments,  possessing  little 
value  for  the  present  age  except  as  historical  curiosities,  or  as  a  means 
of  insight  into  the  life  and  attainments  of  the  people.  Grecian 
literature,  on  the  contrary,  exists  to-day  as  a  model.  From  it  poets 
continue  to  draw  their  highest  inspiration  ;  its  first  great  historian  is 
still  known  as  the  ''  Father  of  History  ";  its  philosophy  seems  to 
touch  every  phase  of  thought  and  argument  of  which  the  human 
mind  is  capable  ;  and  its  oratory  has  never  been  surpassed.  So  vast 
a  subject  should  be  studied  by  itself,  and  in  this  book  we  can  merely 
furnish  a  nucleus  about  which  the  pupil  may  gather  in  his  future 
reading  the  rich  stores  which  await  his  industry.  For  convenience 
we  shall  classify  it  under  the  several  heads  of  Poetry,  History,  Ora- 
tory, and  Philosophy. 

Poetry. — Epics  (Narrative  poems). — The  earliest  Grecian  litera- 
ture of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  is  in  verse.  In  the  dawn  of 
Hellas,  hymns  of  praise  to  the  gods  were  performed  in  choral  dances 
about  shrines  and  altars,  and  heroic  legends  woven  into  ballads  were 
musically  chanted  to  the  sound  of  a  four-stringed  lyre.  With  this 
rhythmical  story-telling,  the  Rhapsodists  {ode-stitchers)  used  to  de- 
light the  listening  multitudes  on  festive  occasions  in  princely  halls, 

*  The  helots  were  once  free  Greeks  like  their. masters,  whom  they  hated  so  bitterly 
that  there  was  a  sayin:^,  "  A  helot  could  eat  a  Spartan  raw."  They  wore  a  sheepskin 
garment  and  dogskin  cap  as  the  contemptuous  badge  of  their  slavery.  There  was 
constant  danger  of  revolt,  and  from  time  to  time  the  bravest  of  them  were  secretly 
killed  by  a  band  of  d-"  tectives  appointed  by  the  government  for  that  purpose.  Some- 
times a  wholesale  ujsassination  was  deemed  necessary.  During  the  Peloponnesian 
War  the  helots  had  shown  so  much  gallantry  in  battle  that  the  Spartan  authorities 
were  alarmed.  A  notice  was  issued  that  two  thousand  of  the  bravest— selected  by 
their  fellows— should  be  made  free.  There  was  great  rejoicing  among  the  delnded 
slaves,  and  the  happy  candidates,  garlanded  with  flowers,  were  marched  proudly 
through  the  streets  and  around  the  temples  of  the  gods.  Then  they  mysteriously 
disappeared  and  were  never  heard  of  more.  At  the  same  time  seven  hundred  other 
helots  were  sent  off  to  join  the  army,  and  the  Spartans  congratulated  themselves  on 
having  done  a  wise  and  prudent  deed. 

t  A  hoplite  was  a  heavy-armed  infantryman.  At  Plataea  every  Spartan  had  seven 
helots,  and  every  perioekus  one  helot  to  attend  him. 


162 


G  R  E  E  C  Jc/ . 


at  Amphictyonic  gatherings,  and  at  religious  assemblies.     Among 

this  troup  of  wandering  minstrels  there  arose 

Homer*  (about  1000  B.C.), 
an  Asiatic  Greek,  whose  name 
has  become  immortal.  The 
Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  are  the 
grandest  epics  ever  written. 
The  first  contains  the  story 
of  the  siege  of  Troy  (p.  115); 
the  second  narrates  the  wan- 
derings of  Ulysses,  king  of 
Ithaca,  on  his  return  from  the 
Trojan  Conquest.  Homer's 
style  is  simple,  artistic,  clear, 
and  vivid.  It  abounds  in 
sublime  description,  delicate 
pathos,  pure  domestic  senti- 
ment, and  noble  conceptions 

of  character.     His  verse  strangely  stirred  the  Grecian  heart.     The 

rhapsodist  Ion  describes  the  emotion  it  produced : 

"  When  that  which  I  recite  is  pathetic,  my  eyes  fill  with  tears  ;  when  it  is  awful 
or  terrible,  my  hair  stands  on  end  and  my  heart  leaps.  The  spectators  also  weep  in 
sympathy,  and  look  aghast  with  terror." 

Antiquity  paid  divine  honors  to  Homer's  name;  the  cities  of 
Greece  owned -state  copies  of  his  works,  which  not  even  the  treasures 
of  kings  could  buy;  and  his  poems  were  then,  as  now,  the  stand- 
ard classics  in  a  literary  education  (p.  179). 

*  According  to  tradition  Homer  was  a  schoolmaster  who,  wearying  of  confine- 
ment, began  to  travel.  'Having  become  blind  in  the  course  of  his  wanderings  he 
returned  to  his  native  town,  where  he  composed  his  two  great  poems.  Afterward 
he  roamed  from  town  to  town,  singing  his  lays,  and  adding  to  them  as  his  inspiration 
came.  Somewhere  on  the  coast  of  the  Levant  he  died  and  was  buried.  His  birth- 
place is  unknown,  and,  according  to  an  old  Greek  epigram, 
"  Seven  rival  towns  contend  for  Homer  dead, 
Through  which  the  living  Homer  begged  his  bread." 
There  are  various  other  versions  of  his  life  and  history,  some  mal  'ng  the  Iliad  the  pro- 
duction of  his  early  manhood,  and  the  Odyssey  of  his  old  age,  A_a.ny  learned  writers 
have  doubted  whether  a  real  Homer  ever  existed.  The  name  is  said  to  mean  "  com- 
piler," and  the  two  great  poems  ascribed  to  him  are  regarded  as  a  simple  collection 
of  heroic  legends,  recited  by  different  bards  at  different  times,  and  finally  woven  into 
a  continuous  tale.  Some  critics  also  assert  that  the  story  of  the  Siege  of  Troy  is 
entirely  allegorical,  being  only  a  repetition  of  the  old  Egyptian  fancies,  "  founded  on 
the  daily  siege  of  the  east  by  the  solar  powers  that  every  evening  are  robbed  of  their 
brightest  treasures  in  the  west."  Dr.  Schliemann,  a  German  explorer,  who  claims  to 
have  unearthed  the  Homeric  Ilium,  and  to  have  even  found  among  its  ruins  the  onia- 
ments  which  once  belonged  to  Priam,  believes  that  his  recent  remarkable  discoveries 
effectually  refute  all  skepticism  in  regard  to  the  historic  reality  of  the  Siege  of  Troy. 


THE    CIVILIZ  ATIOIT.  163 

Besiod,  who  IWed  about  the  time  of  Homer,  wrote  two  long 
poems,  Works  and  Bays*  and  Theogony.  In  the  former  he  details 
his  agricultural  experiences,  enriching  them  with  fable,  allegory,  and 
moral  reflections ;  the  latter  gives  an  account  of  the  origin  and  his- 
tory of  the  thirty  thousand  Grecian  gods,  and  the  creation  of  the 
world.  He  also  prepared  a  calendar  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days  for 
the  use  of  farmers  and  sailors.  The  Spartans,  who  detested  agricul- 
ture, called  Hesiod  the  "  poet  of  the  helots,"  in  contrast  with  Homer, 
"the  delight  of  warriors."  In  Athens,  however,  his  genius  was 
recognized,  and  his  poems  took  their  place  with  Homer's  in  the 
school  education  of  the  day. 

After  Homer  and  Hesiod  the  poetic  fire  in  Greece  slumbered  for 
over  two  hundred  years.  Then  arose  many  lyric,  elegiac,  and  epi- 
grammatic poets,  whose  works  exist  only  in  fragments. 

TyrtcEus^  "the  lame  old  schoolmaster,"  invented  the  trumpet,  and 
gained  the  triumph  for  Sparta  t  in  the  Second  Messenian  War  by  his 
impassioned  battle-songs. 

ArcMVochus  I  was  a  satirical  poet  of  great  reputation  among  the 
ancients,  his  birthday  being  celebrated  in  one  grand  festival  with 
that  of  Homer,  and  a  single  double-faced  statue  perpetuating  their 
memory.  He  invented  many  rhythmical  forms,  and  wrote  with  force 
and  elegance.  His  satire  was  so  caustic  that  he  is  said  to  have  driven 
a  whole  family  to  suicide  by  his  venomous  pen,  used  in  revenge  for 

*  The  Works  and  Days  was  an  earnest  appeal  to  Hesiod's  dissipated  brother, 
whom  he  styles  the  "  simple,  foolish,  good-for-naught  Perses."  It  abounds  with 
arguments  for  honest  industry,  gives  numerous  suggestions  on  the  general  conduct 
of  society,  and  occasionally  dilates  on  the  vanity,  frivolity,  and  gossip  which  the 
author  imputes  to  womankind. 

t  The  story  is  that,  in  obedience  to  an  oracle,  the  Spartans  sent  to  Athens  for  a 
general  who  should  ensure  them  success.  The  jealous  Athenians  ironically  answered 
their  demand  with  the  deformed  Tyrtaeus.  Contrary  to  their  design,  the  cripple-poet 
proved  to  be  just  what  was  needed,  and  his  wise  advice  and  stirring  war-hymns 
spurred  the  Spartans  on  to  victory. 

X  One  of  the  greatest  of  soldier  poets,  Archilochus  proved  himself  a  coward  on 
the  battle-field,  afterward  proclaiming  the  fact  in  a  kind  of  apologetic  bravado, 
thus: 

The  foeman  glories  o'er  my  shield, 

I  left  it  on  the  battle-field. 

I  threw  it  down  beside  the  wood, 

Unscathed  by  scars,  unstained  with  blood. 

And  let  him  glory ;  since  from  death 

Escaped,  I  keep  my  forfeit  breath. 

I  soon  may  find  at  little  cost 

As  good  a  shield  as  that  I  lost." 

When  he  afterward  visited  Sparta,  the  authorities,  taking  a  different  view  of  shield- 
droppiug,  ordered  him  to  leave  the  city  in  an  hour. 


164  GREECE. 

his  rejection  by  one  of  the  daughters.     He  likened  himself  to  a  por- 
cupine bristling  with  quills,  and  declared, 

"  One  great  thing  I  know, 
The  man  who  wrongs  me  to  requite  with  woe." 

Sappho^  "  the  Lesbian  nightingale,"  who  sang  of  love,  was  placed 
by  Aristotle  in  the  same  rank  with  Homer  and  Archilochus.  Plato 
called  her  the  tenth  muse,  and  it  is  asserted  that  Solon  on  hearing 
one  of  her  poems  prayed  the  gods  that  he  might  not  die  till  he  had 
found  time  to  learn  it  by  heart.  Sappho's  style  was  intense,  bril- 
liant, and  full  of  beautiful  imagery ;  her  language  was  said  to  have 
a  "marvellous  suavity."  She  sought  to  elevate  her  countrywomen, 
and  drew  around  her  a  circle  of  gifted  poetesses  whose  fame  spread 
with  hers  throughout  Greece. 

AlccBus,  an  unsuccessful  lover  of  Sappho,  was  a  polished,  passionate 
lyrist.  His  political  and  war  poems  gained  him  high  repute,  l)ut, 
like  Archilochus,  he  dropped  his  shield  in  battle  and  ran  from  danger. 
His  convivial  songs  were  favorites  with  the  classic  topers.  One  of 
his  best  poems  is  the  familiar  one,  beginning, 

"  What  constitutes  a  state  ? 
Not  high-raised  battlement  or  labored  mound, 
Thick  wall  or  moated  gate." 

Anacreon  was  a  "society  poet."  Himself  pleasure-loving  and 
dissipated,  his  odes  were  devoted  to  "  the  muse,  good  humor,  love, 
and  wine."  He  lived  to  be  eighty-five  years  old,  and  his  memory  was 
perpetuated  on  the  Acropolis  at  Athens  by  a  statue  of  a  drunken 
old  man. 

Simonides  was  remarkable  for  his  terse  epigrams  and  choral 
hymns.  He  was  the  author  of  the  famous  inscription  upon  the 
pillar  at  Thermopylae  (p.  132),  of  which  Christopher  North  says; 

"  'Tis  but  two  lines,  and  all  Greece  for  centuries  had  them  by  heart.  She  forgot 
them,  and  Greece  was  living  Greece  no  more." 

Pindar^  the  "  Theban  eagle,"  came  from  a  long  ancestry  of  poets 
and  musicians.  His  fame  began  when  he  was  twenty  years  old,  and 
for  sixty  years  he  was  the  glory  and  delight  of  his  countrymen. 
As  Homer  was  the  jioet^  and  SajDpho  the  poetess^  so  Pindar  was  the 
lyrist  of  Greece.  Of  all  his  compositions  there  remain  entire  only 
forty-five  Triumphal  Odes  celebrating  victories  gained  at  the  national 
games.  His  bpid  and  majestic  style  abounds  in  striking  metaphors, 
abrupt  transitions,  and  complicated  rhythms.     (See  p.  151.) 

The  Drama. — Rise  of  Tragedy  and  Comedy.— In  early  times  the 
wine-god  Dionysos  (Bacchus)  was   worshipped  with  hymns    and 


THE     CiriLIZATlOK.  165 

dances  around  an  open  altar,  a  goat  being  the  usual  sacrifice.* 
During  the  Bacchic  festivities,  bands  of  revellers  went  about  with 
their  faces  smeared  with  wine  lees,  shouting  coarse  and  bantering 
songs  to  amuse  the  village-folk.  Out  of  these  rites  and  revels  grew 
tragedy  (goat-song)  and  comedy  (village-song).  The  themes  of  the 
Tragic  Chorus  were  the  crimes,  woes,  and  vengeance  of  the  "  fate- 
driven  "  heroes  and  gods,  the  murderous  deeds  being  commonly 
enacted  behind  a  curtain,  or  narrated  by  messengers.  The  great 
Greek  poets  esteemed  fame  above  everything  else,  and  to  write  for 
money  was  considered  a  degradation  of  genius.  The  prizes  for 
which  they  so  eagerly  contended  were  simple  crowns  of  wild  olives. 

^schylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides,  the  great  tragic  trio  of 
antiquity,  belong  to  the  golden  Age  of  Pericles.  The  first  ex- 
celled in  the  sublime,  the  second  in  the  beautiful,  and  the  third  in 
the  pathetic.t 

j^schylus  (525-456  b.  c.)  belonged  to  a  noble  family  in  Eleusis,  a 
village  near  Athens,  celebrated  for  its  secret  rites  of  Demeter  (p.  184). 
Here,  under  the  shadow  of  the  sacred  mysteries,  a  proud,  earnest 
boy,  he  drank  in  from  childhood  a  love  of  the  awful  and  sublime. 
A  true  soldier-poet,  he  did  not,  like  Archilochus  and  Alcaeus,  vent 
all  his  courage  in  words,  but  won  a  prize  for  his  bravery  at  Marathon, 
and  shared  in  the  glory  of  Salamis.  In  his  old  age  he  was  publicly 
accused  of  sacrilege  for  having  disclosed  on  the  stage  some  details 

*  Grecian  mythology  represented  Bacchus  as  a  merry,  rollicking  god,  whose 
attendants  were  fauns  and  satyrs— beings  half  goat  and  half  man.  The  early  Tragic 
Chorns  dressed  in  goat-skins.  Thespis^  a  strolling  player,  introduced  an  actor  or 
story-teller  between  the  hymns  of  his  satyr-chcrus  to  All  up  the  pauses  with  a  nar- 
rative, ^schylus  added  a  second,  and  Sophocles  a  third  actor  ;  more  than  that  never 
appeared  together  on  the  Athenian  stage.  Women  wore  not  allowed  to  act.  A  poet 
contesting  for  the  prize  generally  offered  three  plays  to  be  produced  the  same  day  in 
succession  on  the  stage.  This  was  called  a  trilogy ;  a  farce  or  satyr-drama  often 
followed,  closing  the  series. 

t  "  Oh,  our  ^schylns,  the  thunderous  1 
How  he  drove  the  bolted  breath 
Through  the  cloud,  to  wedge  it  ponderous 
In  the  gnarled  oak  beneath. 

"  Oh,  our  Sophocles,  the  royal, 

Who  was  born  to  monarch's  place, 

And  who  made  the  whole  world  loyal 

Less  by  kingly  power  than  grace. 

"  Oiir  Euripides,  the  human, 

With  his  droppings  of  warm  tears, 
And  his  touches  of  things  common 
Till  they  rose  to  touch  the  spheres." 

—Mrs.  Browning  in  "  Wine  of  Cyprus.'''' 


166 


GREECE 


of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries.  Becoming  piqued  at  the  rising  success 
of  Sophocles,  who  bore  a  prize  away  from  him,  he  retired  to  Syra- 
cuse, where,  at  the  court  of  Hiero,  with  Pindar,  Simonides,  and 
other  literary  friends,  he  passed  his  last  years,  ^schylus  wrote 
over  seventy  tragedies,  of  which  only  seven  are  preserved. 


THE   GREAT  TRAGIC  TRIO. 


Prometheus  Bound  furnishes  a  typical  illustration  of  this  poet's  style.  According 
to  the  myth,  Prometheus  (whose  name  means  forethought)  had  incurred  the  hatred 
of  his  fellow-gods  by  stealthily  bringing  some  sparks  of  fire  from  heaven  to  give  to 
mankind,  whom  he  specially  loved.  For  this  crime  Zeus  (Jupiter)  commanded  him 
to  be  bound  upon  Mount  Caucasus,  where  for  thirty  thousand  years  an  eagle  should 
feed  upon  his  vitals.  The  brutal  taunts  and  scoffs  of  the  two  savage  sheriffs, 
"  Strengtli"  and  ''  Force,"  who  di-ag  him  to  the  spot ;  the  reluctant  riveting  of  his 
chains  and  bolts  by  the  sympathizing  Vulcan  ;  the  graceful  pity  of  the  ocean-nymphs 
who  come  to  condole  with  the  fettered  god  in  his  agony  ;  the  visit  of  the  once-beau- 
tiful maiden  lo,  now  changed  by  Juno's  jealousy  into  a  horned  heifer,  and  forced  to 
wander  up  and  down  the  earth,  incessantly  tormented  by  a  gadfly  ;  the  threats  and 
expostulations  of  Mercury,  who  is  sent  by  Zeus  to  force  from  the  fettered  god  a  secret 
he  is  withholding  ;  the  unflinching  defiance  of  Prometheus,  and  the  final  opening  of 
the  dreadful  abyss  into  which,  amid  fearful  thunders,  lightnings,  and  "  gusts  of  all 
fierce  winds,"  the  rock  and  its  sturdy  prisoner  drop  suddenly  and  are  swallowed  up,— 
all  these  are  portrayed  in  this  drama  with  a  fiery  force,  majesty,  and  passion  which 
in  the  whole  range  of  literature  is  scarcely  equalled. 

From  Prometheus  Bound.— (Prome^Aews  to  Mercury.) 
"  Let  the  locks  of  the  lightning,  all  bristling  and  whitening, 
Flash,  coiling  me  round, 
While  the  ether  goes  surging  'neath  thunder  and  scourging 
Of  wild  winds  unbound  ! 
,    Let  the  blast  of  the  firmament  whirl  from  its  place 
The  earth  rooted  below. 
And  the  brine  of  the  ocean,  in  rapid  emotion, 

Be  it  driven  in  the  face 
Of  the  stars  up  in  heaven,  as  they  walk  to  and  fro ! 


THE     CIVILIZATION.  167 

Let  him  hurl  me  anon,  into  Tartarus — on — 

To  the  blackest  degree, 
With  Necessity's  vortices  strangling  me  down ; 
But  he  cannot  join  death  to  a  fate  meant  for  me!  " 

—Mrs.  Browning''s  Translation. 

Sophocles  (495-405  b.  c),  the  sweetness  and  purity  of  whose  style 
gained  for  him  the  title  of  the  Attic  Bee,  was  only  twenty-seven 
years  old  when  he  won  the  prize  away  from  ^schylus,  then  ap- 
proaching sixty.  Athens  was  just  entering  upon  the  most  brilliant 
period  in  her  career,  the  magnificent  interval  of  intellectual  glory 
following  Marathon,  Thermopylae,  Salamis,  and  Plataea,  and  continu- 
ing through  the  Peloponnesiau  war.  JEschylus  had  been  a  gallant 
soldier ;  Sophocles  was  a  true  gentleman.  Less  grand  and  impetu- 
ous, more  graceful  and  artistic  than  his  great  couipetitor,  he  came 
like  sunshine  after  storm.  The  tragedies  with  which  the  elder 
poet  had  thrilled  the  Athenian  heart  were  tinctured  with  the  un- 
earthly mysteries  of  his  Eleusinian  home ;  the  polished  creations  of 
Sophocles  reflected  the  gentle  charm  of  his  own  native  Colo'nus. 
Sophocles  improved  the  style  of  the  tragic  chorus,  and  attired  his 
actors  in  "  splendid  robes,  jewelled  chaplets,  and  embroidered  gir- 
dles." Of  him,  as  of  ^schylus,  we  have  only  seven  tragedies 
remaining,  though  he  is  said  to  have  composed  over  one  hundred. 

(Edipus  the  King  was  selected  by  Aristotle  as  the  master-piece  of  tragedy, 
CEdipus,  so  runs  the  plot,  was  son  of  Laius,  king  of  Thebes.  An  oracle  having  fore- 
told that  he  should  "  slay  his  father  and  marry  his  mother,"  Jocasta,  the  queen,  to 
avert  this  fate,  exposes  him  to  die  in  the  forest.  Here  a  shepherd  finds  and  rescues 
him.  He  grows  up  to  manhood,  unconscious  of  his  story,  and  journeys  to  Thebes. 
On  the  way  he  meets  an  old  man,  whose  chariot  jostles  against  him.  A  quarrel  en- 
sues, and  he  slays  the  gray-haired  stranger.  Arrived  at  Thebes,  he  finds  the  whole 
city  in  commotion.  A  frightful  monster,  called  the  Sphinx,  has  propounded  a  riddle 
which  no  one  can  solve,  and  every  failure  costs  a  life.  So  terrible  is  the  crisis  that 
the  hand  of  the  widowed  queen  is  offered  to  any  one  who  will  unravel  the  enigma 
and  save  the  state.  (Edipus  is  the  successful  man,  and  he  weds  Jocasta,  his  mother. 
After  many  years  come  fearful  plagues  and  pestilences.  The  oracle,  again  consulted, 
declares  they  shall  continue  until  the  murderer  of  Laius  is  found  and  punished. 
The  unconscious  (Edipus  actively  pushes  the  search,  and  at  last  is  confronted  with 
the  revelation  of  his  own  unhappy  destiny.  Jocasta  hangs  herself  in  horror,  and 
CEdipus,  tearing  a  golden  buckle  from  her  dress,  thrusts  its  sharp  point  into  both 
his  eyes  and  goes  out  to  roam  the  earth. 

In  (Edipus  at  Colonns  the  subject  is  continued.  Here  the  blind  old  man,  attended 
by  his  faithful  daughter,  Antig'one,  has  wandered  to  Colonus,  where  he  unwittingly 
sits  down  to  rest  within  the  precincts  of  a  grove  sacred  to  the  Gentle  Goddesses. 
The  indignant  citizens  come  out,  and,  discovering  who  the  old  man  is,  command  him 
to  depart  from  their  borders.  Meantime,  war  is  raging  in  Thebes  between  his  two 
sons,  and  an  oracle  has  declared  that  only  his  body  will  decide  success.  Every  means 
is  used  to  obtain  it,  but  the  gods  have  willed  that  his  sons  shall  slay  each  other. 
CEdipus,  always  "  driven  by  fate,"  follows  the  Queen  of  Night,  upon  whose  borders 
he  has  trespassed.  The  last  moment  comes ;  a  sound  of  subterranean  thunder  is 
heard ;  his  daughters,  wailing  and  terrified,  cling  to  him  in  wild  embrace ;  a  mys- 
terious voice  calls  from  beneath,  "  (Edipus  !  •  King  CEdipus  !  come  hither ;  thou  art 
wanted  I "    The  earth  opens,  and  the  old  man  disappears  forever. 


168  GREECE. 

The  following  is  from  a  famous  chorus  *  in  (Edipus  at  Colonus,  describing  the 
beauties  of  the  surrounding  scenery : 

"  Here  ever  and  aye,  through  the  greenest  vale, 

Gush  the  wailing  notes  of  the  nightingale, 

From  her  home  where  the  dark-hued  ivy  weaves 

With  the  grove  of  the  god  a  night  of  leaves  ; 

And  the  vines  blossom  out  from  the  lonely  glade, 

And  the  suns  of  the  summer  are  dim  in  the  shade, 

And  the  storms  of  the  winter  have  never  a  breeze 

That  can  shiver  a  leaf  from  the  charmed  trees. 
******* 

And  wandering  there  forever,  the  fountains  are  at  play, 

And  Cephissus  feeds  his  river  from  their  sweet  urns,  day  by  day ; 

The  river  knows  no  dearth ; 

Adown  the  vale  the  lapsing  waters  glide, 

And  the  pure  rain  of  that  pellucid  tide 

Calls  the  rife  beauty  from  the  heart  of  earth." 

—Bulwer's  Translation. 
Euripides  (480-406  B.C.),  the  Scenic  Philosopher,  was  born  in 
Salaniis  on  the  day  of  the  great  sea-fight.t  Twenty-five  years  after- 
ward—the year  after  ^schylus  died — his  first  trilogy  was  put 
upon  the  stage.  Athens  had  changed  in  the  half-century  since  the 
poet  of  Eleusis  came  before  the  public,  A  new  element  was  steadily 
gaining  ground.  Doubts,  reasonings,  and  disbeliefs  in  the  marvellous 
stories  told  of  the  gods  were  creeping  into  society.  Schools  of 
rhetoric  and  philosophy  were  springing  up,  and  already  "  to  use  dis- 
course of  reason  "  was  accounted  more  important  than  to  recite  the 
Eiad  and  Odyssey  entire.  To  -^schylus  and  to  most  of  his  hearers 
the  Fates  and  the  Furies  had  been  dread  realities,  and  the  gods  upon 
Olympus  as  undoubted  personages  as,  Miltiades  or  Themistocles ; 
Sophocles,  too,  who  avoided  everything  that  might  disturb  the 
serenity  of  his  art,  accepted  the  Homeric  deities  as  he  found  them ; 

*  An  interesting  incident  is  connected  with  this  chorus.  Sophocles,  then  an  old 
man,  had  been  accused  by  a  covetous  son  of  being  incapable  of  managing  his  prop- 
erty. The  action  was  brought  into  court,  whither  the  aged  poet  came  and,  as  his 
only  defence,  recited  some  lines  on  Colonus  which  he  had  just  written.  The  jury 
burst  into  applause,  the  case  was  hastily  dismissed,  and  the  white-haired  Sophocles 
returned  to  his  home  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  greater  honor  than  before. 
"  We  can  imagine  Sophocles  in  his  old  age  recounting  the  historic  names  and  scenes 
with  which  he  had  been  so  familiar ;  how  he  had  listened  to  the  thunder  of  '  Olympian 
Pericles' ;  how  he  had  been  startled  by  the  chorus  of  Furies  in  the  play  of  ^)^chylus  ; 
how  he  had  talked  with  the  garrulous  and  open-hearted  Herodotus  ;  how  he  had  fol- 
lowed Anaxagoras,  tbe  e-reat  Sceptic,  in  the  cool  of  the  day  among  a  throng  of  his 
disciples  ;  how  he  ua,a  walked  with  Phidias  and  supped  with  Aspasia."— Co/^i«s. 

t  The  three  great  tragic  poets  of  Athens  were  singularly  connected  together  by 
the  battle  of  Salamis.  .<Eschylus,  in  the  heroic  vigor  of  his  life,  fought  there  ; 
Euripides,  whose  parents  had  fled  from  Athens  on  the  approach  of  the  Persians,  was 
born  near  the  scene,  probably  on  the  battle-day  ;  and  Sophocles,  a  beautiful  boy  of 
fifteen,  danced  to  the  choral  song  of  Simonides,  celebrating  the  victory. 


THE     CIVILIZATION".  169 

but  Euripides  belonged  to  the  party  of  "  advanced  thinkers,"  and 
believed  no  more  in  the  gods  of  the  myths  and  legends  than  in  the 
prophets  and  soothsayers  of  his  own  time.  Discarding  the  ideal 
heroes  and  heroines  of  Sophocles,  he  modeled  bis  characters  after 
real  men  and  women,  endowing  them  with  human  passions  and 
affections.*     Of  his  eighty  or  ninety  plays,  seventeen  remain. 

Medfi/a  is  his  most  celebrated  tragedy.  A  Colchian  princess  skilled  in  sorcery 
becomes  the  wife  of  Jason,  the  hero  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  Being  afterward  thrust 
aside  for  a  new  love,  she  finds  her  revenge  by  sending  the  bride  an  enchanted  robe 
and  crown,  in  which  she  is  no  sooner  clothed  than  they  burst  into  flame  and  con- 
sume her.  To  complete  her  vengeance  Medea  murders  her  two  young  sons— so  deeply 
wronged  by  their  father,  so  tenderly  loved  by  herself— and  then,  after  hovering  over 
the  palace  long  enough  to  mock  and  jeer  at  the  anguish  of  the  frantic  Jason,  she  is 
whirled  away  with  the  dead  bodies  of  her  children  in  a  dragon-borne  car,  the  chariot 
of  her  grandsire,  the  sun. 

Fkom  Medea.— (if€c?ea  to  her  sons.) 
"  Why  gaze  you  at  me  with  your  eyes,  my  children  ? 

Why  smile  your  last  sweet  smile  ?    Ah  me !  ah  me  I 

What  shall  I  do  ?    My  heart  dissolves  within  me, 

Friends,  when  I  see  the  glac  eyes  of  my  sons  1 

Yet  whence  this  weakness  ?    Do  I  wish  to  reap 

The  scorn  that  springs  from  enemies  unpunished  ? 

Die  they  must ;  this  must  be,  and  since  it  must, 

I,  I  myself  will  slay  them,  I  who  bore  them. 
O  my  sons  ! 

Give,  give  your  mother  your  dear  hands  to  kiss. 

O  dearest  hands,  and  mouths  most  dear  to  me. 

And  forms  and  noble  faces  of  my  sons  ! 

O  tender  touch  and  sweet  breath  of  my  boys ! " 

—Sijmonds^s  Translation. 
Comedy. — When  Aristophanes  appeared  with  the  first  of  his 
sharp  satires,  Euripides  had  been  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  before 
the  public,  and  the  Peloponnesian  war  was  near  at  hand.  The  new 
poet  whose  genius  was  so  full  of  mockery  and  mirth  was  a  rich 
aristocratic  Athenian,  the  natural  enemy  of  the  ultra-democratic 
mob-orators  of  his  day,  whom  he  heartily  hated  and  despised.  In 
the  bold  and  brilliant  satires  which  now  electrified   all   Athens, 

*  Aristophanes  ridiculed  his  scenic  art,  denounced  his  theology,  and  accused  him 
of  corrupting  society  by  the  falsehood  and  deceit  shown  by  his  characters.  The  line 
in  one  of  his  plays, 

"  Though  the  tongue  swore,  the  heart  remained  unsworn," 
caused  his  arrest  for  seeming  to  justify  perjury.  When  the  people  were  violent  in 
censure,  Euripides  would  sometimes  appear  on  the  stage  and  beg  them  to  sit  the 
play  through.  On  one  occasion  when  their  displeasure  was  extreme  he  tartly  ex- 
claimed, "  Good  people,  it  is  my  business  to  teach  you  and  not  to  be  taught  by  you." 
Tradition  relates  that  he  was  torn  to  pieces  by  doizs,  set  upon  him  by  two  rival  poets, 
while  he  was  walking  in  the  garden  of  the  Macedoman  king,  at  Pella.  The  Athenians 
were  eager  to  honor  him  after  nis  death,  and  erected  a  statue  in  the  theatre  where  he 
had  been  so  often  hissed  as  well  as  applauded. 
8 


170  GREECE. 

every  prominent  public  man  was  liable  to  see  his  personal  peculiar- 
ities paraded  on  the  stage.*  The  facts  and  follies  of  the  times  were 
pictured  so  vividly  that  when  Dionysius,  the  Tyrant  of  Syracuse, 
wrote  to  Plato  for  information  as  to  affairs  in  Athens,  the  great 
philosopher  sent  for  answer  a  copy  of  The  Clouds. 

Aristophanes  wrote  over  fifty  plays,  of  which  eleven,  in  part  or 
all,  remain. 

Of  these,  The  Frogs  and  the  WomarCs  Festival  were  direct  satires  on  Euripides. 
The  Knights  was  written,  so  the  author  declared,  to  "cut  up  Cleon  the  Tanner  into 
shoe-leather."  t  The  Clouds  ridiculed  the  new-school  philosophers  ;  $  and  The 
WaspSy  the  Athenian  passion  for  law-courts. 

From  the  Clouds.— (-Scewe ;    Socrates,  absorbed  in  thought,  swinging  in  a  basket, 
surrounded  by  his  students.    Enter  Strepsiades,  a  visitor.) 
Str.  Who  hangs  dangling  in  yonder  basket  ? 

Stud.  HIMSELF.    Str   And  who's  Himself  ?    Stud.  Why,  Socrates. 
Str.  Ho,  Socrates  I    Sweet,  darling  Socrates! 
Soc.  Why  callest  thou  me,  poor  creature  of  a  day  ? 
Str.  First  tell  me,  pray,  what  are  you  doing  up  there  ? 
Soc.  I  walk  in  air  and  contemplate  the  sun  1 
Str.  Oh,  thafs  the  way  that  you  despise  the  gods — 

You  get  so  near  them  on  your  perch  there — eh  ? 
Soc.  I  never  could  have  found  out  things  divine. 

Had  I  not  hung  my  mind  up  thus,  and  mixed 

My  subtle  intellect  with  its  kindred  air. 

Had  I  regarded  such  things  from  below, 

I  had  learnt  nothing.    For  the  earth  absorbs 

Into  itself  the  moisture  of  the  brain. 

It  is  the  same  with  water-cresses. 
Str.  Dear  me  1    So  water-cresses  grow  by  thinking  ! 

The  so-called  Old  Comedy,  in  which  individuals  were  satirized, 
died  with  Aristophanes,  and  to  it  succeeded  the  Mw  Comedy,  por- 
traying general  types  of  human  nature,  and  dealing  with  domestic 
life  and  manners, 

Menander  (343-391  b.  c),  founder  of  this  new  school,  was  a  warm 

*  Even  the  deities  were  burlesqued,  and  the  devout  Athenians,  who  denounced 
Euripides  for  venturing  to  doubt  the  gods  and  goddesses,  were  wild  in  applause  when 
Aristophanes  dragged  them  out  as  absurd  cowards,  or  blustering  braggarts,  or  as 
"  Baking  peck-loaves  and  frying  stacks  of  pancakes." 

t  The  masks  of  the  actors  in  Greek  comedy  were  made  to  caricature  the  features 
of  the  persons  represented.  Cleon  was  at  this  time  so  powerful  that  no  artist  dared 
to  make  a  mask  for  his  character  in  the  play,  nor  could  any  man  be  found  bold 
enough  to  act  the  part,  Aristophanes  therefore  took  it  himself,  smearing  his  face 
with  wine  lees,  which  he  declared  "  well  represented  the  purple  and  bloated  visage  of 
the  demagogue." 

X  It  is  said  that  Socrates,  who  was  burlesqued  in  this  play,  was  present  at  its  per- 
formance, which  he  heartily  enjoyed  ;  and  that  he  even  mounted  on  a  bench  that  every 
one  might  see  the  admirable  resemblance  between  himself  and  his  counterfeit  upon 
the  stage. 


THE     CIVILIZATION". 


171 


friend  of  Epicurus  (p.  177),  whose  philosophy  he  adopted.  He  ad- 
mired, as  heartily  as  Aristophanes  had  disliked,  Euripides,  and  his 
style  was  manifestly  influenced  by  that  of  the  tragic  poet.  He  ex- 
celled in  delineation  of  character,  and  made  his  dramatic  personages 
so  real  that  a  century  afterward  it  was  written  of  him, 

"  O  Life,  and  O  Menander  I    Speak  and  say 
Which  copied  which  ?    Or  Nature,  or  the  play  ?  " 

Of  his  works  only  snatches  remain,  many  of  which  were  household  proverbs 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Such  were:  "  He  is  well  cleansed  that  hath  his  con- 
science clean,"  "The  workman  is  greater  than  his  work,"  and  the  memorable  one 
quoted  by  St.  Paul,  "  Evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners." 


"^^iT 


THE  GREAT  HISTORIANS  OF   GREECE. 


History. — Here  also  we  have  an  illustrious  trio:  Herodotus 
(484-420),  Thucydides  (471-400),  and  Xenophon  (about  431-355). 
Herodotus  of  Halicarnassus  we  recall  as  an  old  friend  met  in  Egyptian 
history.  Having  rank,  wealth,  and  a  passion  for  travel,  he  roamed 
over  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  Babylon,  Judea,  and  Persia,  studying  their 
history,  geography,  and  national  customs.  In  Athens,  where  he 
spent  several  years,  he  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Sophocles.  His 
liistory  was  divided  into  nine  books,  named  after  the  nine  muses.* 
The  principal  subject  is  the  Greek  and  Persian  War;  but,  by  way  of 
episode,  sketches  of  various  nations  arc  introduced.  His  style  is 
artless,  graphic,  flowing,  rich  in  description,  and  interspersed  with 

*  Leonidas  of  Tarentum,  a  favorite  writer  of  epigrams,  who  lived  two  hundred 
years  after  Herodotus,  thus  accounted  for  their  names  : 

"  The  muses  nine  came  one  day  to  Herodotus  and  dined, 
And  in  return,  their  host  to  pay,  left  each  a  book  behind." 


172  GREECE. 

dialogue.  He  has  been  described  as  having  "  the  head  of  a  sage, 
the  heart  of  a  mother,  and  the  simplicity  of  a  child." 

Thucydides  is  said  to  have  been  won  to  his  vocation  by  hearing 
the  history  of  Herodotus  read  at  Olympia,  which  charmed  him  to 
tears.  Rich,  noble,  and  educated,  he  was  in  the  prime  of  his  man- 
hood when,  at  the  opening  of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  he  received 
command  of  a  squadron.  Having  failed  to  arrive  with  his  ships  in 
time  to  save  a  certain  town  from  surrender,  Cleon  caused  his  dis- 
grace, and  he  went  into  exile  to  escape  a  death  penalty.  During  the 
next  twenty  years  he  prepared  his  History  of  the  Peloponnesian  War. 
His  style  is  terse,  noble,  and  spirited ;  as  a  historian  he  is  accurate 
and  impartial.  "  His  book,"  says  Macaulay,  "  is  that  of  a  man  and 
a  statesman,  and  in  this  respect  presents  a  remarkable  contrast  to  the 
delightful  childishness  of  Herodotus." 

Xenophon's  historical  fame  rests  mostly  on  his  Ancd)asis*  which 
relates  the  expedition  of  Cyrus  and  the  Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand. 
He  was  one  of  the  generals  who  conducted  this  memorable  retreat, 
in  which  he  displayed  great  firjuness,  courage,  and  military  skill.  A 
few  years  later  the  Athenians  formed  their  alliance  with  Persia,  and 
Xenophon,  who  still  held  command  under  his  friend  and  patron,  the 
Spartan  king  Agesilaus,  was  brought  into  the  position  of  an  enemy 
to  his  state.  A  decree  of  banishment  having  been  passed  against 
him  in  Athens,  his  Spartan  friends  furnished  him  with  a  beautiful 
country  residence  about  two  miles  from  Olympia,  where  he  spent 
the  best  years  of  his  long  life.  Next  to  the  Anabasis  ranks  his 
Memorabilia  (memoirs)  of  Socrates,  f  his  friend  and  teacher. 
Xenophon  was  said  by  the  ancients  to  be  "  the  first  man  that 
ever  took  notes  of  conversation."  The  Memorabilia  is  a  collec- 
tion of  these,  in  which  the  character  and  doctrines  of  Socrates 
are  discussed.  Xenophon  was  the  author  of  fifteen  works,  all  of 
which  are  extant.  His  style,  simple,  clear,  racy,  refined,  and  noted 
for  colloquial  vigor,  is  considered  the  model  of  classical  Greek 
prose. 

Oratory. — Eloquence  was  studied  in  Greece  as  an  art,     Perides, 

*  This  word  means  the  "  march  up,"  viz.,  from  the  sea  to  Babylon.  A  more  ap- 
propriate name  would  be  Katabasis  (march  down),  as  most  of  the  book  is  occupied 
with  the  details  of  the  return  journey. 

t  There  is  a  story  that  Xenophon,  when  a  boy,  once  met  Socrates  in  a  lane. 
The  philosopher,  barring  the  way  with  his  cane,  demanded,  ''Where  is  food 
sold?"  Xenophon  having  replied,  Socrates  asked,  "And  where  are  men  made 
good  and  noble?"  The  lad  hesitated,  whereupon  Socrates  answered  himself  by 
saying,  "  f^ollow  me  and  learn."  Xenophon  obeyed,  and  was  henceforth  bis  devoted 
disciple. 


THE     CIVILIZATION. 


173 


though  he  spoke  only  upon  great  occasions,  was  famed  for  his  powers 
of  address,  but 

Demosthenes  (385-322  B.C.) 
was  the  unrivaled  orator  of 
Greece,  if  not  of  the  world. 
An  awkward,  sickly,  stam- 
mering boy,  by  his  deter- 
mined energy  and  persever- 
ance he  "  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of  all  the  mighty 
masters  of  speech  —  unap- 
proachable forever. " — {Lord 
Brougham.)  His  first  address 
before  the  public  assembly 
was  hissed  and  derided ;  but 
he  had  resolved  to  be- 
come an  orator,  and  nothing 
daunted  him.  He  employed 
every  means  to  overcome  his 

natural  defects,*  and  at  last  was  rewarded  by  the  palm  of  eloquence. 
In  his  style  there  was  no  effort  at  display,  but  every  sentence  was 
made  subservient  to  the  great  end  of  his  argument.  "  We  never 
think  of  his  words,"  said  Fenelon  ;  "  we  think  only  of  the  things  he 
says."     His  oration  Upon  the  Crown  t  is  his  master-23iece. 

Philosophy  and  Science.— The  Seven  Sages  {Appendix)  lived 
about  600  B.  c.  X  They  w^ere  celebrated  for  their  moral,  social,  and 
political  wisdom.     One  of  them,  named 


DEMOSTHENES. 


*  That  he  might  study  without  hindrance  he  shut  himself  up  for  months  in  a 
room  underground,  and,  it  is  said,  copied  the  historj'  of  Thucydides  eight  times  that 
he  might  be  infused  with  its  concentrated  thought  and  energy.  Out  on  the  seashore, 
with  his  mouth  filled  with  pebbles,  he  exercised  his  voice  until  it  sounded  full  and 
clear  above  the  tumult  of  the  waves  ;  while  in  the  privacy  of  his  own  room,  before 
a  full-length  mirror,  he  disciplined  his  awkward  gestures  till  he  had  schooled  them 
into  grace  and  aptness. 

t  It  had  been  proposed  that  his  public  services  should  be  rewarded  by  a  golden 
crown— the  custom  being  for  an  orator  to  wear  a  crown  in  token  of  his  inviolability 
while  speaking,  ^schines,  a  fellow -orator,  whom  he  had  accused  of  favoring  Philip, 
opposed  the  measure.  The  discussion  lasted  si?:  years.  When  the  two  finally  appeared 
before  a  vast  and  excited  assembly  for  the  closing  argument,  the  impetuous  eloquence 
of  Demosthenes  swept  everything  before  it.  In  after  years,  though  his  whole  life  had 
proved  him  a  zealous  patriot,  he  was  charged  with  having  received  bribes  from 
Macedon.    Exiled,  and  under  sentence  of  death,  he  poisoned  himself. 

X  About  this  time  lived  ^sop,  who,  though  born  a  slave,  gained  his  freedom  and 
the  friendship  of  kings  and  wise  men  by  his  peculiar  wit.  His  fables,  long  preserved 
by  oral  tradition,  were  the  delight  of  the  Athenians,  who  read  iu  them  many  a  pithy 


174  GEEECE. 

Tholes^  who  had  studied  in  Egypt,  founded  a  school  of  thinkers. 
He  taught  that  all  things  were  generated  from  water,  into  which  they 
would  all  be  ultimately  resolved.  During  the  next  two  centuries 
many  philosophers  arose,  among  whom  the  following  are  especially 
noted : 

Anaxlmander,  the  scientist,  invented  a  sun-dial — an  instrument 
which  had  long  been  used  in  Egypt  and  Babylonia — and  wrote  a 
geographical  treatise,  eru'iched  with  the  first  known  map. 

Anaxagoras  discovered  the  cause  of  eclipses,  and  the  difference 
between  the  planets  and  fixed  stars.  He  did  not,  like  his  predecessors, 
regard  fire,  air,  or  water  as  the  origin  of  all  things,  but  believed  in  a 
Supreme  Intellect.  He  was  accused  of  atheism,*  tried,  and  condemned 
to  death,  but  his  friend  Pericles  succeeded  in  changing  the  sentence 
to  exile.     Contemporary  with  him  was 

Hipijocrates^  the  father  of  physicians,  who  came  from  a  family  of 
priests  devoted  to  ^sculapius,  the  god  of  medicine.  He  wrote 
many  works  on  physiology,  and  referred  diseases  to  natural  causes 
and  not,  as  was  the  popular  belief,  to  the  displeasure  of  the  gods. 

Pythagoras,  the  greatest  of  early  philosophers,  was  the  first  to 
assert  the  movement  of  the  earth  in  the  heavens ;  he  also  made  some 
important  discoveries  in  geology  and  mathematics.  At  his  school 
in  Crotona,  Italy,  his  disciples  were  initiated  with  secret  rites ;  one 
of  the  tests  of  fitness  being  the  power  to  keep  silence  under  every 
circumstance.  He  based  all  creation  upon  the  numerical  rules  of 
harmony,  and  asserted  that  the  heavenly  spheres  roll  in  musical 
rhythm.  Teaching  the  Egyptian  doctrine  of  transmigration,  he 
professed  to  remember  what  had  happened  to  himself  in  a  previous 
existence  when  he  was  a  Trojan  hero.  His  followers  reverenced  him 
as  half-divine,  and  their  unquestioning  faith  passed  into  the  proverb. 
Ipse  dixit  (He  has  said  it). 

Socrates  (470-399  b.  c). — During  the  entire  thirty  years  of  the 
Peloponnesian  War  a  grotesque-featured,  ungainly,  shabbily-dressed, 
bare-footed  man  might  have  been  seen  w^andering  about  the  streets 
of  Athens,  in  all  weathers  and  at  all  hours,  in  the  crowded  market- 
place, among  the  workshops,  wherever  men  were  gathered,  inces- 
santly asking  and  answering,  questions.     This  man  was  Socrates,  a 

public  lesson.  His  statue,  the  work  of  Lysippus  (p.  183),  was  placed  opposite  to  those 
of  the  Seven  Sages  in  Athens.  Socrates  greatly  admired  ^sop's  fables,  and  during 
his  last  days  in  prison  amused  himself  by  versifying  them. 

*  The  Greeks  v/ere  especially  angry  because  Anaxagoras  taught  that  the  sun  is 
not  a  god. '  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  they  condemned  to  death  as  an  atheist  the  first 
JU8U  among  them  who  advanced  the  idea  of  One  Supreme  Deity, 


THE     CIVILIZATIOI^.  175 

self-taught  philosopher,  who  believed  that  he  had  a  special  mission 
from  the  gods,  and  was  attended  by  a  ''  divine  voice  "  which  coun- 
seled and  directed  him.  The  questions  he  discussed  pertained  to 
life  and  morality,  and  were  especially  pointed  against  the  Sophists, 
who  were  the  skeptics  and  quibblers  of  the  day.  His  earnest  elo- 
quence attracted  all  classes,*  and  among  his  friends  were  Alcibiades, 
Euripides,  and  Aristophanes.  A  man  who,  by  his  irony  and  argu- 
ment, was  continually  "driving  men  to  their  wits' end,"  naturally 
made  enemies.  One  morning  there  appeared  in  the  portico  where 
such  notices  were  usually  displayed  the  following  indictment : 
"  Socrates  is  guilty  of  crime ;  first,  for  not  worshipping  the  gods 
whom  the  city  worships,  but  introducing  new  divinities  of  his  own ; 
secondly,  for  corrupting  the  youth.  The  penalty  due  is  death." 
Having  been  tried  and  convicted,  he  was  sentenced  to  drink  a  cup 
of  the  poison-hemlock,  which  he  took  in  his  prison  chamber,  sur- 
rounded by  friends  with  whom  he  cheerfully  conversed  till  the  last. 
Socrates  taught  the  unity  of  God,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the 
beauty  and  necessity  of  virtue,  and  the  moral  responsibility  of  man. 
He  was  a  devout  believer  in  oracles,  which  he  frequently  consulted. 
He  left  no  writings,  but  his  philosophy  has  been  preserved  by  his 
faithful  followers,  Xenophon  and  Plato. 

The  Four  Great  Schools  of  Philosophy  (4th  century  b. c). — 
The  Academic  school  was  founded  by  that  devoted  disciple 
of  Socrates,  Plato  (429-347),  who  delivered  his  lectures  in  the 
Academic  Gardens.     Plato  f  is  perhaps  best  known  from  his  argu- 

*  "Amidst  the  ofay  life,  the  beautiful  forms,  the  brilliant  colors  of  an  Athenian 
multitude  and  an  Athenian  street,  the  repulsive  features,  tlie  unwieldy  figure,  the 
naked  feet,  the  rough  threadbare  attire  of  the  philosopher,  must  have  excited  every 
sentiment  of  astonishment  and  ridicule  which  strong  contrast  can  produce.  It  was 
(so  his  disciples  described  it)  as  if  one  of  the  marble  satyrs,  which  sat  in  grotesque 
attitudes  with  pipe  or  flute  in  the  sculptors'  shops  at  Athens,  had  left  his  seat  of 
stone,  and  walked  into  the  plane-tree  avenue,  or  the  gymnastic  colonnade.  Gradually 
the  crowd  gathered  round  him.  At  first  he  spoke  of  the  tanners,  and  the  smiths,  and 
the  drovers,  who  were  plying  their  trades  about  him  ;  and  they  shouted  with  laughter 
as  he  poured  forth  his  homely  jokes.  But  soon  the  magic  charm  of  his  voice  made 
itself  felt.  The  peculiar  sweetness  of  its  tone  had  an  effect  which  even  the  thunder 
of  Pericles  failed  to  produce.  The  laughter  ceased— the  crowd  thickened— the  gay 
youth,  whom  nothing  else  could  tame,  stood  transfixed  and  awe-struck  in  his  pres- 
ence—there was  a  solemn  thrill  in  his  words,  such  as  his  hearers  could  compare  to 
nothing  but  the  mysterious  sensation  produced  by  the  clash  of  drum  and  cymbal  in 
the  worship  of  the  great  mother  of  the  gods— the  head  swam— the  heart  leaped  at  the 
sound— tears  rushed  from  their  eyes,  and  they  felt  that,  unless  they  tore  themselves 
away  from  that  fascinated  circle,  they  should  sit  down  at  his  feet  and  grow  old  in 
listening  to  the  marvelous  music  of  this  second  Marsyas." 

t  The  Greeks  had  no  family  or  clan  names,  a  single  appellation  serving  for  an 
individual.    To  save  confusion  the  father's  name  was  frequently  added.    Attic  wit 


176  GREECE. 

ments  in  regard  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  He  Ijelieved  in  one 
eternal  God,  without  whose  aid  no  man  can  attain  wisdom  or  vir- 
tue, and  in  a  previous  as  well  as  a  future  existence.  All  earthly 
knowledge,  he  averred,  is  but  the  recollection  of  ideas  gained  by  the 
soul  in  its  former  disembodied  state,  and  as  the  body  is  only  a  hin- 
drance to  perfect  communion  with  the  "  eternal  essences,"  it  follows 
that  death  is  to  be  desired  rather  than  feared.  His  works  are  written 
in  dialogue,  Socrates  being  represented  as  the  principal  speaker. 
The  abstruse  topics  of  which  he  treats  are  enlivened  by  wit,  fan(;y, 
humor,  and  picturesque  illustration.  His  style  was  considered  so 
perfect  that  an  ancient  writer  exclaimed,  "  If  Jupiter  had  spoken 
Greek,  he  would  have  spoken  it  like  Plato."  The  fashionables  of 
Athens  thronged  to  the  Academic  Gardens  to  listen  to  "  the  sweet 
speech  of  the  master,  melodious  as  the  song  of  the  cicadas  in  the 
trees  above  his  head."  Even  the  Atli«nian  women— shut  out  by 
custom  from  the  intellectual  groves — shared  in  the  universal  eager- 
ness, and,  disguised  in  male  attire,  stole  in  to  hear  the  famous 
Plato. 

2.  The  Peripatetic  school  was  founded  by  Aristotle  (384-322), 
who  delivered  his  lectures  while  walking  up  and  down  the  shady 
porches  of  the  Lyceum,  surrounded  by  his  pupils  (hence  called 
Peripatetics,  walkers).  An  enthusiastic  student  under  Plato,  he 
remained  at  the  academy  until  his  master's  death.  A  few  years 
afterward  he  accepted  the  in\'itation  of  Philip  of  Macedon  to  become 
instructor  to  the  young  Alexander.  "Returning  to  Athens  in  335  B.C. 
he  brought  the  magnificent  scientific  collections  given  him  by  his 
royal  patron,  and  opened  his  school  in  the  Lyceum  Gymnasium. 
Suspected  of  partisanship  with  Macedon  and  accused  of  impiety, 
to  avoid  the  fate  of  Socrates  he  fled  to  Euboea,  where  he  died. 
Aristotle,  more  than  any  other  philosopher,  originated  ideas  whose 
influence  is  still  felt.  He  was  the  father  of  zoology  and  of  logic, 
the  principles  which  he  laid  down  in  the  latter  study  having  never 
been  superseded.  His  books  include  works  on  metaphysics,  psychol- 
ogy, ethics,  poetics,  rhetoric,  and  various  other  subjects.  He  taught 
that  all  reasoning  should  be  based  upon  observation  of  facts.  His 
style  is  intricate  and  abstruse.     He  differed  much  from  Plato,  and 

supplied  abundant  nicknaraos,  suggested  by  some  personal  peculiarities  or  cir- 
cumstance. Thus  this  philosopher,  whose  real  name  was  Aristocles,  was  called 
Plato  because  of  his  broad  brow.  He  was  descended  on  his  father's  side  from 
Codrus,  the  last  hero-king  of  Attica,  and  on  his  mother's  from  Solon ;  but  his  ad- 
mirers, not  content  with  even  this  distinguished  lineage,  made  him  a  son  of  the  god 
Apollo,  and  told  how  in  his  infancy  the  bees  had  settled  on  his  lips  as  a  prophecy  of 
the  honeyed  words  which  were  to  fall  from  them. 


THE     CIVILIZATIOK.  177 

though  he  recognized  an  infinite,  iinmateriul  God,  doubted  the  exist- 
ence of  a  future  life, 

3.  The  Epicureans  were  the  followers  oi  Epicurus  (340-270  b.  c), 
who  taught  that  the  chief  end  of  life  is  enjoyment.  Himself  a  man 
of  the  purest  morals,  he  recommended  virtue  for  the  sake  of  its 
hajjpy  results,  but  his  doctrines  were  so  iDerverted  by  his  followers 
that  the  word  "  Epicurean  "  has  become  a  synonym  for  loose  and 
luxurious  living. — The  Cynics  (kunikos,  dog-like)  went  to  the  other 
extreme,  and,  despising-  pleasure,  gloried  in  pain  and  privation. 
They  scofied  at  the  courtesies  of  society,  and  disregarded  the  ties  of 
family  or  country.  The  sect  was  founded  by  Antisthenes,  a  disciple 
of  Socrates,  but  its  principal  representative  was  Diogenes,  who,  it  is 
said,  ate  and  slept  in  a  tub  which  he  carried  about  on  his  head.  He 
was  noted  for  his  caustic  wit,  which  he  indulged  without  reference 
to  persons,*  and  for  his  rude  manners,  the  outgrowth  of  his  creed. 

4.  The  Stoics  were  headed  by  Zeno  (355-260  b.  c),  and  took  their 
name  from  the  painted  portico  {stoa)  under  which  he  gathered  his 
pupils.  Pain  and  pleasure  were  equally  despised  by  them,  and  in- 
difference to  all  external  conditions  was  considered  the  highest  type 
of  virtue.  For  his  example  of  iTitegrity,  Zeno  was  decreed  a  golden 
chaplet  and  a  public  tomb  in  the  Ceramicus. 

Later  Greek  Writers. — Plutarch  (50-120  a.  d.)  was  the  great- 
est of  ancient  biographers.  His  Parallel  Lives  of  Greeks  and  Romans 
still  delights  hosts  of  readei-s  by  its  admirable  portraiture  of  the 
most  celebrated  men  of  antiquity.  Ludan  (120-200  a.  d.)  wrote 
witty  dialogues,  in  which  he  ridiculed  the  absurdities  of  Grecian 
mythology  and  the  follies  of  false  philosophers.  His  Sale  of  the 
Philosoj)hers  humorously  pictures  the  founders  of  the  different  schools 
as  being  put  up  at  auction  by  Mercury. 

Libraries  and  Writing  Materials. — Few  collections  of  books 
were  made  before  the  Peloponnesian  War,  but  in  later  times  it  became 
fashion  able. to  have  private  libraries,!  and  after  the  days  of  the  tragic 

*  It  is  said  that  Alexander  the  Great  once  visited  the  surly  philosopher,  whom  he 
found  seated  in  his  tub,  basking  in  the  sun.  "I  am  Alexander,"  said  the  monarch, 
astonished  at  the  indifference  with  which  he  was  received.  "  And  I  am  Diogenes," 
returned  the  cynic.  "  Have  you  no  favor  to  ask  of  me  ?  "  inquired  the  king.  "  Yes," 
growled  Dioi,'enes,  "  to  get  out  of  my  sunlight.''''  This  story,  though  perhaps  apocry- 
phal, illustrates  the  character  of  the  "  snarling  philosopher."  He  was  vain  of  his 
disregard  for  the  decencies  of  life.  At  a  sumptuous  banquet  given  by  Plato  he  en- 
tered uninvited,  and,  rubbing  his  soiled  feet  on  the  rich  carpets,  cried  out,  "Thus  I 
trample  on  your  pride,  O  Plato  ! "  The  polite  host,  who  knew  his  visitor's  weakness, 
aptly  retorted,  "  But  with  still  greater  pride,  O  Diogenes  ! " 

t  Aristotle  had  an  immense  library,  which  was  sold  after- his  death.     Large 


m 


GREECE 


poets  Athens  not  only  abounded  in  book-stalls,  but  a  place  in  the 
Agora  was  formally  assigned  to  book -auctioneering.  The  manu- 
script copies  were  rapidly  multiplied  by  means  of  slave  labor, 
and  became  a  regular  article  of  export  to  the  colonies.  The 
Egyptian  papyrus  and,  afterward,  the  fine  but  expensive  parchment 
were  used  in  copying  books ;  the  papyrus  being  written  on  only  one 
side,  the  parchment  on  both  sides.* 

The  reed  pen  was  used  as  in  Egypt, 
and  double  inkstands  for  black  and  red 
ink  were  invented,  having  a  ring  by 
which  to  fasten  them  to  the  girdle  of 
the  writer.  Waxed  tablets  were  em- 
ployed for  letters,  note-books,  and 
other  requirements  of  daily  life.  These 
were  written  upon  with  a  metal  or 
ivory  pencil  {styltis),  pointed  at  one 
end  and  broadly  flattened  at  the  other, 
so  that  in  case  of  mistake  the  writing 
could  be  smoothed  out  and  the  tablet 
made  as  good  as  new.  A  large  bur- 
nisher was  sometimes  used  for  the 
latter  purpose.  Several  tablets,  joined 
together,  formed  a  book. 

Education. — A  Greek  father  held  the  lives  of  his  young  children 
at  his  will,  and  the  casting  out  of  infants  to  the  chances  of  fate  was 
authorized  by  law  throughout  Greece,  except  at  Thebes.  Girls  were 
especially  subject  to  this  unnatural  treatment.  If  a  child  was  rescued, 
it  became  the  property  of  its  finder. 

The  Athenian  boy,  when  seven  years  old,  was  sent  to  school — the 
school-hours  being  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  Until  sixteen  years  of 
age  he  was  always  attended  in  his  walks  by  a  pedagogue — usually 


A   GREEK   TABLET. 


libraries  have  been  found  in  the  remains  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  and  some 
of  the  volumes,  although  nearly  reduced  to  coal,  have  by  great  care  been  unrolled 
and  published. 

*  The  width  of  the  manuscript  (varying  from  six  to  fourteen  inches)  formed  the 
length  of  the  page,  the  size  of  the  roll  depending  upon  the  number  of  pages  in  a 
book.  When  finished  the  roll  was  coiled  around  a  stick,  and  a  ticket  containing  the 
title  was  appended  to  it  Documents  were  sealed  by  tying  a  string  around  them  and 
affixing  to  the  knot  a  bit  of  clay  or  wax,  which  was  afterward  stamped  with  a  seal. 
In  libraries  the  books  were  arranged  on  shelves  with  the  ends  outward,  or  in  pigeon- 
holes ;  or  several  scrolls  were  put  together  in  a  cylindrical  box  with  a  cover.  The 
reader  unrolled  the  scroll  as  he  advanced,  rolling  up  the  completed  pages  with  his 
other  hand.    (See  illustration,  p.  279.) 


THE     OIVILIZATIOK 


179 


some  trusty  and  intelligent  slave,  too  old  for  hard  work — who,  how- 
ever, never  entered  the  study  room,  no  visitors,  except  near  relatives 
of  the  master,  being  allowed  therein  on  penalty  of  death.  The  boy 
was  first  taught  grammar,  arithmetic,  and  writing.  His  chief  books 
were  Hesiod  and  Homer,  which  he  committed  to  memory.  The 
moral  lessons  they  contained  were  caiefully  enjoined,  for,  says 
Plato,  "  Greek  parents  are  more  careful  about  the  manner  and  morals 
of  the  youth  than  about  his  letters  and  music."  Discipline  was 
enforced  with  the  rod.  All  the  great  lyric  poems 
were  set  to  music,  which  was  universally  taught, 
the  lyre  and  other  stringed  instruments  having 
most  favor.  "  Here  again,"  says  Plato,  "  the  teach- 
ers look  carefully  to  virtuous  habits ;  and  rhythms 
and  harmonies  are  made  familiar  to  the  souls  of 
the  young  that  they  may  become  more  gentle,  and 
better  men  in  speech  and  action."  Robust  health 
and  a  symmetrical  muscular  development  were 
considered  so  important  that  the  young  Athenian 
between  sixteen  and  eighteen  years  of  age  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  gynmastic  exercises.  This  was 
a  period  of  probation,  and  though  the  pedagogue 
was  dismissed,  the  youth's  behavior  was  carefully 
noted  by  his  elders.  At  eighteen  he  was  solemnly 
enrolled  in  the  list  of  citizens.  Two  years  were 
now  given  to  public  service,  after  which  he  was 
free  to  follow  his  own  inclinations.  If  he  were 
scholarly-disposed,  and  had  money,  and  leisure,* 
he  might  spend  his  whole  life  in  learning. 

The  little  an  Athenian  girl  was  required  to  know  was  learned 
from  her  mother  and  nurses  at  home. 

The  Sj.artan  lad  of  seven  years  was  placed  under  the  control  of 
the  state.  Henceforth  he  ate  his  coarse  hard  bread  and  black  broth 
at  the  public  table,t  and  slept  in  the  public  dormitory.     Here  he 


A   GRECIAN    YOUTH. 


*  Our  word  school  is  derived  from  the  Greek  word  for  leisure.  The  education  of 
men  was  obtained,  not  so  much  from  books  as  from  the  philosophical  lectures,  the 
public  assembly,  the  theatre,  and  the  law  courts,  where  the  most  of  their  unoccupied 
time  was  spent. 

t  The  principal  dish  at  the  mess-table  was  a  black  broth,  made  from  a  traditional 
recipe.  Wine  mixed  with  water  was  drunk,  but  toasts  were  never  given,  for  the 
Spartans  thought  it  a  sin  to  use  two  words  when  one  would  do.  Intoxication  and 
the  symposium  (p.  197)  were  forbidden  by  law.  Fat  men  were  regarded  with  sus- 
picion. Small  boys  eat  on  low  stools  near  their  fathers  at  meals,  and  were  given  half 
rations,  which  they  ate  in  silence. 


180 


GEEECE 


was  taught  to  disdain  all  home-affections  as  a  weakness,  and  to 
think  of  himself  as  belonging  only  to  Sparta.  All  the'  Persian 
devices  for  making  hardy  men  were  improved  upon.  He  was 
brought  up  to  despise,  not  only  softness  and  luxury,  but  hunger, 
thirst,  torture,  and  death.  Always  kept  on  small  rations  of  food^ 
he  was  sometimes  allowed  only  what  he  could  steal.  If  he  escaped 
detection,  his  adroitness  was  applauded ;  if  he  were  caught  in  the 
act,  he  was  severely  flogged ;  but  though  he  were  whipped  to  death, 
he  must  neither  wince  nor  groan.* 


^c^^  fx  sQ-^S^a 


EAST  END  OF  THE  PARTHENON  (aS  RESTORED  BY  FERGUSSON). 


Monuments  and  Art. — The  three  styles  of  Grecian  architecture 
— Doric,  Ionic,  and  Corinthian — are  distinguished  by  the  shape  of 
their  columns  (see  cut,  p.  182).  Of  the  Doric,  which  was  originally 
borrowed  from  Egypt  (p.  40),  the  Parthenon  at  Athens,  and  the 
Temple  of  Zeus  at  Olympia,  were  among  the  most  celebrated. 

The  Parthenon  or  House  of  the  Virgin,  situated  on  the  Acropolis, 

*  The  Spartan  lad  had  a  model  set  before  him.  It  was  that  of  a  boy  who  stole  a 
fox  and  hid  it  under  his  shc/t  cloak.  He  must  have  been  somewhat  awkward— no 
doubt  the  Spartan  children  were  warned  against  this  fault  in  his  morals— for  he  was 
suspected,  and  ordered  to  be  flogged  till  he  confessed.  While  the  lashes  fell  the  fox 
struggled  to  escape.  The  boy,  with  his  quivering  back  raw  and  bleeding,  and  his 
breast  torn  by  savage  claws  and  teeth,  stood  sturdily  and  flinched  not.  At  last  the 
desperate  fox  reached  his  heart,  and  he  dropped  dead— but  a  hero  I 


THE     CIYILIZATIO]!^.  181 

was  sacred  to  Pallas  Athena,  the  patron  goddess  of  Attica.  It  was 
built  throughout  of  fine  marble  from  the  quarry  of  Mt.  Pentelicus, 
near  Athens,  its  glistening  whiteness  being  here  and  there  subdued 
by  colors  and  gilding.  The  magnificent  sculptures  *  which  adorned 
it  were  designed  by  Phidias— that  inimitable  artist  whom  Pliny  desig- 
nates as  "  before  all,  Phidias  the  Athenian."  The  statue  of  the  god- 
dess within  the  temple  was  forty  feet  high ;  her  face,  neck,  arms, 
hands  and  feet  were  ivory;  her  drapery  was  pure  gold.f 

The  Temple  at  Olympia  was  built  of  porous  stone,  the  roof  being 
tiled  with  Pentelic  marble.  It  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Alpheus, 
in  a  sacred  grove  (Altis)  of  plane  and  olive  trees.  The  statue  of  the 
Deity,  by  Phidias,  was  so  superstitiously  venerated  that  not  to  have 
seen  it  was  considered  a  real  calamity.  + 

The  most  celebrated  Ionic  temple  was  that  of  Artemis  (Diana)  at 
Ephesus,  which  was  three  times  destroyed  by  fire,  and  as  often  re- 
built with  increased  magnificence.  Corinthian  architecture  was  not 
generally  used  in  Greece  before  the  age  of  Alexander  the  Great. § 
The  most  beautiful  example  is  the  Choragic  Monument  of  Lysicrates 
(p.  188)  in  Athens. 

*  These  sculptures,  illustrating  events  in  the  mythical  life  of  the  goddess,  are  among 
the  finest  in  existence.  Some  of  them  were  sent  to  England  by  Lord  Elgin  when 
he  was  British  ambassador  to  Turkey,  and  are  now  in  the  British  Museum,  where, 
with  various  other  sculptures  from  the  Athenian  Acropolis,  all  more  or  less  muti- 
lated, they  are  known  as  the  Elgin  Marbles. 

t  The  Greeks  accused  Phidias  of  having  purloined  some  of  the  gold  provided  him 
for  this  purpose  ;  but  as,  by  the  advice  of  his  shrewd  friend  Pericles,  he  had  so  at- 
tached the  metal  that  it  could  be  removed,  he  was  able  to  disprove  the  charge.  He 
was  afterward  accused  of  impiety  for  having  placed  the  portraits  of  Pericles  and  him- 
self in  the  group  upon  Athena's  shield.    He  died  in  prison. 

%  The  statue,  sixty  feet  high,  was  seated  on  an  elaborately-sculptured  throne  of 
cedar,  inlaid  with  gold,  ivory,  ebony,  and  precious  stones  ;  like  the  statue  of  Athena 
in  the  Parthenon,  the  face,  feet,  and  body  were  of  ivory ;  the  eyes  were  brilliant 
jewels,  and  the  hair  and  beard  pure  gold.  The  drapery  was  beaten  gold,  enameled 
with  flowers.  One  hand  grasped  a  scepter,  composed  of  precious  metals,  and  sur- 
mounted by  an  eagle ;  in  the  other,  like  Athena,  he  held  a  golden  statue  of  Nike  (the 
winged  goddess  of  victory).  The  statue  was  so  high,  in  proportion  to  the  building, 
that  the  Greeks  were  wont  to  say  that  "  if  the  god  should  attempt  to  rise  he  would 
burst  open  the  roof"  The  eff'ect  of  its  great  size,  as  Phidias  had  calculated,  was  to 
impress  the  beholder  with  the  pent-up  power  and  majesty  of  the  greatest  of  gods. 
A  copy  of  the  head  of  this  statue  is  in  the  Vatican.  The  statue  itself,  removed  by 
the  emperor  Theodosius  I.  to  Constantinople,  was  lost  in  the  disastrous  fire  (a.  d.  475) 
which  destroyed  the  Library  in  that  city.  At  the  same  time  perished  the  Venus  of 
Cnidos,  by  Praxiteles  (p.  183),  which  the  ancients  ranked  next  to  the  Phidian  Zeus 
and  Athena. 

§  The  invention  of  the  Corinthian  capital  is  ascribed  to  Callimachus,  who,  seeing 
a  small  basket  covered  with  a  tile  placed  in  the  center  of  an  acanthus  plant  which 
grew  on  the  grave  of  a  young  lady  of  Corinth,  was  so  struck  with  its  beauty  that  he 
executed  a  capital  in  imitation  of  it.~  Westropp's  Hand-book  of  Architeclure. 


182 


GREECE, 


The  Propylea,  which  formed  the  entrance  to  the  Athenian 
Acropolis,  was  a  magnificent  structure,  and  opened  upon  a  group  of 
temples,  altars,  and  statues  which  has  never  been  equalled.  All  the 
splendor  of  Grecian  art  was  concentrated  on  the  state  edifices,  archi- 
tectural display  on  private  residences  being  forbidden  by  law.  After 
the  Macedonian  conquest,  dwellings  grew  luxurious,  and  Demosthenes 
once  severely  rebuked  certain  citizens  for  living  in  houses  whose 
ornamentation  surpassed  that  of  the  public  buildings. 


Doric. 


Ionic. 

THREE   ORDERS   OF   GRECIAN    ARCHITECTURE. 


Corinthian. 


(Xy  shaft:  2,  capital :  ■},.  architrave  :  i„  frieze  ;  ^^  cornice.  The  entire  pari  above 
the  capital  is  the  entablature.  At  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  is  the  base.,  which  rests 
upon  the  pedestal.) 


The  Athenian  Agora  (market-place),  which  was  the  fashionable 
morning  resort,  was  surrounded  with  porticoes,  one  of  which  was  deco- 
rated with  i^aintings  commemorative  of  glorious  Grecian  achievements. 
Within  the  enclosure  were  grouped  temples,  altars,  and  statues. 

Paintings  were  usually  on  wood ;  wall-painting  was  a  separate 
and  inferior  art.  The  most  celebrated  painters  were :  AjJoUodorus  of 
Athens,  sometimes  called  the  Greek  Rembrandt ;  Zeuxls  and  Parrlia- 
sius,  who  contended  together  for  the  prize — Parrhasius  producing  a 
picture  representing  a  curtain,  which  his  rival  himself  mistook  for 
a  real  hanging,  and  Zeuxis  offering  a  picture  of  grapes,  which  de- 
ceived even  the  birds;  Apelles,  the  most  renowned  of  all  Greek 
artists,  who  painted  with  four  colors,  which  he  blended  with  a 


THE     MANNERS     A  if  D     CUSTOMS.  183 

varnish  of  bis  own  invention;  liis  friend  Protogenea^  the  careful 
painter,  sculptor,  and  writer  on  art ;  Mcias,  who  having  refused  a 
sum  equal  to  seventj^  thousand  dollars  from  Ptolemy  I.  for  his  master- 
piece, bequeathed  it  to  Athens ;  and  Pandas,  who  excelled  in  wall- 
painting,  and  in  delineating  children,  animals,  flowers,  and  ara- 
besques. The  Greeks  tinted  the  background  and  sometimes  the 
bas-reliefs  of  their  sculptures,  and  even  painted  their  inimitably- 
carved  statues,  gilding  the  hair  and  inserting  glass  or  silver  eyes. 

In  statuary,  both  marble  and  bronze,  and  in  graceful  vase- 
painting,  the  Greeks  have  never  been  surpassed.  Of  arts  and 
ornamentation  in  general,  all  those  which  we  have  seen  in  use  among 
the  previous  nations  were  greatly  improved  by  the  Greeks,  who  added 
to  other  excellencies  an  exquisite  sense  of  beauty  and  a  power  of 
ideal  expression  jDeculiar  to  themselves.  Besides  Phidias,  whose 
statues  were  distinguished  for  grandeur  and  sublimity,  eminent 
among  sculptors  were  Praxiteles,  who  excelled  in  tender  grace  and 
finish ;  Scopas,  who  delighted  in  marble  allegory ;  and  Lysippus,  a 
worker  in  bronze,  and  the  master  of  portraiture.* 


3.    THE    MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

Religion  and.  Mythology.— Nothing  marks  more  strongly  the 
poetic  imagination  of  tlie  Greeks  than  the  character  of  their  religious 
worship.  They  learned  their  creed  in  a  poem,  and  told  it  in  marble 
sculpture.  To  tlieni  Nature  overflowed  with  deities.  Every  grove 
had  its  presiding  genius,  every  stream  and  fountain  its  protecting 
nymph.  Earth  and  air  were  filled  with  invisible  spirits,  and  the  sky 
was  crowded  with  translated  heroes — their  own  half-divine  ancestors. 
Their  gods  were  intense  personalities,  endowed  with  human  passions 
and  instincts,  and  bound  by  domestic  relations.  Such  deities  appealed 
to  the  hearts  of  their  worshippers,  and  the  Greeks  loved  their  favorite 
gods  with  the  same  fervor  bestowed  upon  their  earthly  friends.  On 
the  summit  of  Mt.  Olympus,  beyond  the  impenetrable  mists,  accord- 
ing to  their  mythology,  the  twelve  f  great  gods  held  council. 

*  The  master-pieces  of  Praxiteles  were  an  undraped  Venus  sold  to  the  people  of 
Cnidos,  and  a  satyr  or  faun,  of  which  the  best  antique  copy  is  preserved  in  the 
Capitoline  Museum,  Kome.  This  statue  suo^gested  Hawthorne's  charming  romance, 
The  Marble  Faun.  The  celebrated  Nlobe  Group  in  the  Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence,  is  the 
work  of  either  Praxiteles  or  Scopas.  The  latter  was  one  of  the  artists  employed  on 
the  Mausoleum  at  Halicarnassus  (Appendix).  Lysippus  and  Apelles  were  favorites 
of  Alexander  the  Great,  who  would  allow  only  them  to  carve  or  paint  his  image. 

t  They  were  called  the  Twelve  Gods,  but  the  lists  vary,  increasing  the  actual 
number.  Eoman  mythology  was  founded  on  Greek,  and  as  the  Latin  names  are  now 
in  general  use  they  have  been  interpolated  to  assist  the  pupil's  association, 


184  GREECE. 


Zeus  (Jove  or  Jupiter)  wa^  supreme.  He  ruled  with  the  thunderbolts,  and  was 
king  over  gods  and  men.  His  symbols  were  the  eagle  and  the  lightning,  both  asso- 
ciated with  great  height.    His  two  brothers, 

Poseidon  (Neptune)  and  Hades  (Pluto)  held  sway  respectively  over  the  sea  and  the 
depths  under  ground.  As  god  of  the  sea,  Poseidon  had  tlie  dolphin  for  his  symbol ; 
as  god  over  rivers,  lakes,  and  springs,  his  symbols  were  the  trident  and  the  horse. 
Hades  had  a  helmet  which  conferred  invisibility  upon  the  wearer.  It  was  in  much 
demand  among  the  gods,  and  was  his  symbol.  The  shades  of  Hades,  wherein  the 
dead  were  received,  were  guarded  by  a  three-headed  dog,  Cerberus. 

Hera  (Juno),  the  haughty  wife  of  Zeus,  was  Queen  of  the  Skies.  Her  jealousy 
was  the  source  of  much  discord  in  celestial  circles.  The  stars  were  her  eyes.  Her 
symbols  were  the  cuckoo  and  the  peacock. 

Demeter  (Ceres)  was  the  bestower  of  bountiful  harvests.  Her  worship  was  con- 
nected with  the  peculiarly-sacred  Eleusinian  mysteries,  whose  secret  rites  have  never 
been  disclosed.  Some  think  that  ideas  of  the  unity  of  God  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul  were  kept  alive  and  handed  down  by  them.  Demeter's  symbols  were  ears 
of  corn,  the  pomegranate,' and  a  car  drawn  by  winged  serpents. 

Hestia  (Vesta)  was  goddess  of  the  domestic  hearth.  At  her  altar  in  every  house 
were  celebrated  all  important  family  events,  even  to  the  purchase  of  a  new  slave, 
or  the  undertaking  of  a  short  journey.  The  family  slaves  joined  in  this  dojiestic 
worship,  and  Hestia's  altar  was  an  asylum  whither  they  might  flee  to  escape  panish- 
ment,  and  where  the  stranger,  even  an  enemy,  could  find  protection.  She  w.is  the 
personification  of  purity,  and  her  symbol  was  an  altar-flame, 

Heph<Mstos  (Vulcan)  was  the  god  of  volcanic  fires  and  skilled  metal-work.  Being 
lame  and  deformed,  his  parents,  Zeus  and  Hera,  threw  him  out  of  Olj'mpus,  bat  his 
genius  finally  brought  about  a  reconciliation.  Mt.  Etna  was  his  forge,  whenCv.*  Pro- 
metheus stole  the  sacred  fire  to  give  to  man.    His  brother. 

Ares  (Mars)  was  god  of  war.    His  symbols  were  the  dog  and  the  vulture. 

Athena  (Minerva)  sprang  full-armed  from  the  imperial  head  of  Zeus.  She  was  the 
goddess  of  wisdom  and  of  celestial  wars,  and  the  especial  defender  of  citadels. 
Athena  and  Poseidon  contested  on  the  Athenian  Acropolis  for  the  supremacy  over 
Attica.  The  one  who  gave  the  greatest  boon  to  man  was  to  win.  Poseidcm  with  his 
trident  brought  forth  a  spring  of  water  from  the  barren  rock  ;  but  Athena  produced 
an  olive-tree,  and  was  declared  victor.  As  a  war-goddess  she  was  called  Pallas 
Athene.    Her  symbol  was  the  owl. 

Aphrodite  (Venus)  was  goddess  of  love  and  beauty.  She  arose  from  the  foam  of 
the  sea.  In  a  contest  of  personal  beauty  between  Hera,  Athena,  and  Aphrodite, 
Paris  decided  for  Aphrodite.  She  is  often  represented  with  a  golden  apple  in  her 
hand,  the  prize  offered  by  Eris  (strife),  who  originated  the  dispute.  Her  symbol  was 
the  dove. 

Apollon  (Apollo),  the  ideal  of  manly  beauty,  was  the  god  of  poetry  9,nd  song. 
He  led  the  muses,  and  in  this  character  his  symbol  was  a  lyre  ;  as  god  of  the  fierce 
rays  of  the  sun,  which  was  his  chariot,  his  symbol  was  a  bow  with  arrows. 

Artemis  (Diana),  twin-sister  to  Apollo,  was  goddess  of  the  chase,  and  protector 
of  the  water-nymphs.  All  young  girls  were  under  her  care.  The  moon  was  her 
chariot,  and  her  symbol  was  a  deer,  or  a  bow  with  arrows. 

Hermes  (Mercury ;>  was  the  god  of  cunning  and  eloquence.  In  the  former  capacity 
he  was  associated  with  mists,  and  accused  of  thieving.  The  winged-footed  messen- 
ger of  the  gods,  he  was  also  the  guide  of  souls  to  the  realms  of  Hades,  and  of  heroes 
in  difticult  expeditions.  As  god  of  persuasive  speech  and  success  in  trade  he  was 
popular  in  Athens,  where  he  was  worshipped  at  the  street  crossings.*  His  symbol 
was  a  cock  or  a  ram. 

*  The  "Hermes"  placed  at  street  comers  were  stone  pillars,  surmounted  by  a 
human  bead  (p.  143). 


THE     MANNERS     Al^D     CUSTOMS. 


185 


Dionysos  (Bacehus),  god  of  wine,  with  his  wife  Ariadne,  ruled  the  fruit  season. 

Hebe  was  a  cup-bearer  in  Olympus. 

There  was  a  host  of  minor  deities  and  personifications,  often  appearing  in  a 
group  of  threa,  such  as  the  Three  Graces, — beautiful  women,  who  represented  the 
brightness,  color,  and  perfume  of  summer;  the  Three  Fates,— stern  sisters,  upon 
whose  spindle  was  spun  the  thread  of  every  human  life ;  the  Three  Hesperides,— 
daughters  of  Atlas  (upon  whose  shoulders  the  sky  rested),  in  whose  western  garden 
golden  apples  grew  ;  the  Three  Harpies,— mischievous  meddlers,  who  personated  the 
effects  of  violent  winds  ;  Three  Gorgons,  whose  terrible  faces  turned  to  stone  all 
who  beheld  them  ;  and  Three  Furies,  whose  mission  was  to  pursue  criminals. 

There  were  Nine  Muses,  daughters  of  Zeus  and  Mnemosyne  (Memory),  who  dwelt 
on  Mt.  Parnassus,  and  held  all  gifts  of  inspiration :  Clio  presided  over  History  ; 
Melpomene,  tragedy;  Thalia,  comedy ;  Calliope,  epic  poetry;  Urania,  astronomy; 
Euterpe,  music  ;  Polyhymnia,  song  and  oratory;  Erato,  love-songs  ;  and  Terpsichore, 
dancing. 


PRESENTING  OFFERINGS  AT  THE   TEMPLE   OF   DELPHI. 


Divination  of  all  kinds  was  universal.  Upon  signs,  dreams,  and 
portents  depended  all  the  weighty  decisions  of  life.  Birds,  especially 
crows  and  ravens,  were  watched  as  direct  messengers  from  the  gods, 
and  so  much  meaning  was  attached  to  their  voices,  habits,  manner  of 
flight  and  mode  of  alighting,  that  even  in  Homer's  time  the  word  bird 
was  synonymous  with  omen.  The  omens  obtained  by  sacrifices  were 
still  more  anxiously  regarded.  Upon  the  motions  of  the  flame,  the 
appearance  of  the  ashes  and,  above  all,  the  shape  and  aspect  of  the 
victim's  liver,  hung  such  momentous  human  interests  that,  as  at 
Plataea,  a  great  army  was  sometimes  kept  waiting  for  days  till  success 
should  be  assured  through  a  sacrificial  calf  or  chicken. 

Oracles. — The  temples  of  Zens  at  Dodona  and  of  Apollo  at  Delphi 
were  the  oldest  and  most  venerated  prophetic  shrines.  At  Dodona 
three  priestesses  presided,  to  whom  the  gods  spoke  in  the  rustling 


186  GREECE. 

leaves  of  a  sacred  oak,  and  the  murmurs  of  a  holy  rill.  But  the 
favorite  oracular  god  was  Apollo,  who,  besides  the  Pythian  temple  at 
Delphi,  had  shrines  in  various  parts  of  the  land*  1'he  Greeks  had 
implicit  faith  in  the  Oracles,  and  consulted  them  for  every  important 
undertaking. 

Priests  and  Priestesses  shared  in  the  reverence  paid  to  the  gods. 
Their  temple  duties  were  mainly  prayer  and  sacrifice.  They  were 
given  the  place  of  honor  in  the  public  festivities,  and  were  supported 
by  the  temple  revenues. 

Grecian  religion  included  in  its  observances  nearly  the  whole  range 
of  social  pleasures.  Worship  consisted  of  songs  and  dances,  proces- 
sions, libations,  festivals,  dramatic  and  athletic  contests,  and  various 
sacrifices  and  purifications.  The  people  generally  were  content  with 
their  gods  and  time-honored  mythology,  and  left  all  diflficult  moral  and 
religious  problems  to  be  settled  by  the  philosophers  and  the  serious- 
minded  minority  who  followed  them. 

Religious  Games  and  Festivals. — The  Olympian  Games  were  held 
once  in  four  years  in  honor  of  Zeus,  at  Olympia.  Here  the  Greeks 
gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  protected  by  a  safe  transit 
through  hostile  Hellenic  states.  The  commencement  of  the  Festival 
month  having  been  formally  announced  by  heralds  sent  to  every  state, 
a  solemn  truce  suppressed  all  quarrels  until  its  close.  The  competitive 
exercises  consisted  of  running,  leaping,  wrestling,  boxing,  and  chariot- 
racing.  The  prize  was  a  wreath  from  the  sacred  olive-tree  in  Olympia. 
The  celebration,  at  first  confined  to  one  day,  came  in  time  to  last 
five  days.  Booths  were  scattered  about  the  Altis  (p.  181),  where  a  gay 
traflfic  was  carried  on  ;  while  in  the  spacious  council-room  the  ardent 
Greeks  crowded  to  hear  the  newest  works  of  poets,  philosophers,  and 
historians.  All  this  excitement  and  enthusiasm  were  heightened  by 
the  belief  that  the  pleasure  enjoyed  was  an  act  of  true  religious  worship. 
The  Pythian  Games,  sacred  to  Apollo,  occurred  near  Delphi,  in  the 
third  year  of  each  Olympiad,  and  in  national  dignity  ranked  next  to 
the  Olympic.  The  prize-wreath  was  laurel.  The  Nemean  and. the 
Isthmian  Games,  sacred  respectively  to  Zeus  and  Poseidon,  were  held 
once  in  two  years,  and  like  the  Pythian  had  prizes  for  music  and 
poetry,  as  well  as  gymnastics,   chariots,  and  horses.     The  Nemean 

*  A  volcanic  site,  having  a  fissure  through  which  gas  escaped,  was  usually  selected. 
The  Delphian  priestess,  having  spent  three  days  in  fasting  and  bathing,  seated  herself 
on  a  tripod  over  the  chasm,  where,  under  the  real  or  imaginary  effect  of  the  vapors, 
she  uttered  her  prophecies.  Her  ravings  were  recorded  by  the  attending  prophet, 
and  afterward  turned  into  hexameter  verse  by  poets  hired  for  the  purpose.  The 
shrewd  priests,  through  their  secret  agents,  kept  well  posted  on  all  matters  likely  to 
be  urged,  and  when  their  knowledge  failed,  as  in  predictions  for  the  future,  made  the 
responses  so  ambiguous  or  tmiutelligible  that  they  would  seem  to  be  verified  by  any 
result. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  187 

crown  was  of  parsley,  the  Isthmian  of  pine.  Sparta  took  interest 
only  in  the  Olympic  Games,  with  which  she  had  been  connected  from 
their  beginning,  and  which,  it  is  curious  to  note,  were  the  only  ones 
having  no  intellectual  competition.  Otherwise,  Sparta  had  her  own 
festivals  from  which  strangers  were  excluded. 

The  Panathenaia,^  which  took  place  once  in  four  years  at  Athens, 
in  honor  of  the  patron  goddess,  consisted  of  similar  exercises,  termi- 
nating in  a  grand  procession  in  which  the  whole  Athenian  population 
took  part.  Citizens  in  full  military  equipment ;  the  victorious  con- 
testants with  splendid  chariots  and  horses  ;  priests  and  attendants 
leading  the  sacrificial  victims  ;  dignified  elders  bearing  olive-boughs  ; 
young  men  with  valuable,  artistic  plate  ;  and  maidens,  the  purest 
and  most  beautiful  in  Athens,  with  baskets  of  holy  utensils  on  their 
heads, — all  contributed  to  the  magnificent  display.  Matrons  from  the 
neighboring  tribes  carried  oak-branches,  while  their  daughters  bore 
the  chairs  and  sunshades  of  the  Athenian  maidens.  In  the  center  of 
the  procession  was  a  ship  resting  on  wheels,  having  for  a  sail  a  richly- 
embroidered  mantle  or  peplos,  portraying  the  victories  of  Zeus  and 
Athena,  wn-ought  and  woven  by  Attic  maidens.  The  procession  having 
gone  through  all  the  principal  streets  round  to  the  Acropolis,  marched 
up  through  its  magnificent  Propyl ea,  past  the  majestic  Parthenon,  and 
at  last  reached  the  Erechtheium,  or  Temple  of  Athena  Polias  (p.  194). 
Here  all  arras  were  laid  aside,  and,  amid  the  blaze  of  burnt-offerings 
and  the  ringing  paeans  of  praise,  the  votive  gifts  were  placed  in  the 
sanctuary  of  the  goddess. 

The  Feast  of  Dionysos  was  celebrated  twice  during  the  spring 
season,  the  chief  festival  continuing  for  eight  days.  At  this  time 
those  tragedies  and  comedies  which  had  been  selected  by  the  archon — 
to  whom  all  plays  were  first  submitted — were  brought  out  in  the 
Dionysiac  theatre  f  at  Athens,  in  competition  for  prizes. 

*  The  Panathenaic  Procession  formed  the  subject  of  the  sculpture  on  the  frieze 
around  the  Parthenon  Cella,  in  which  stood  the  goddess  sculptured  by  Phidias.  Most 
of  this  frieze,  much  mutilated,  is  with  the  Elgin  Marbles. 

t  This  theatre  was  built  on  the  sloping  side  of  the  Acropolis,  and  consisted  of  a 
vast  number  of  semicircular  rows  of  seats  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  accommodating 
thirty  thousand  persons.  The  front  row,  composed  of  white  marble  arm-chairs, 
was  occupied  by  the  priests,  the  judges,  aud  the  archons,  each  chair  being 
engraved  with  the  name  of  its  occupant.  Between  the  audience  and  the  stage  was 
the  orchestra  or  place  for  the  chorus,  in  the  center  of  which  stood  the  altar  of 
Dionysos.  Movable  stairs  led  from  the  orchestra  up  to  the  stage,  as  the  course  of 
the  drama  frequently  required  the  conjunction  of  the  chorus  with  the  actors.  The 
stage  itself  extended  the  whole  width  of  the  theatre,  but  was  quite  narrow,  except 
at  the  center,  where  the  representation  took  place.  It  was  supported  by  a  white 
marble  wall,  handsomely  carved.  There  was  a  variety  of  machinery  for  change  of 
sceiies  and  for  producing  startling  effects,  such  as  the  rolling  of  thunder,  the  descent 
of  gods  from  heaven,  the  rising  of  ghosts  and  demons  from  below,  etc.    The  theatre 


188  GREECE. 

Each  tribe  furnished  a  chorus  of  dancers  and  musicians,  and  chose 
a  choragus,  whose  business  was  not  only  to  superintend  the  training 
and  costumes  of  the  performers,  but  also  to  bear  all  the  expense  of 
bringing  out  the  play  assigned  to  him.  The  office  was  one  of  high 
dignity,  and  immense  sums  were  spent  by  the  choragi  in  their  efforts 
to  eclipse  each  other  ;  the  one  adjudged  to  have  given  the  best  enter- 
tainment received  a  tripod,  which  was  formally  consecrated  in  the 
temples  and  placed  upon  its  own  properly-inscribed  monument  in  the 
Street  of  Tripods,  near  the  theatre. 

The  Actors^  to  increase  their  size  and  enable  them  the  better  to  per- 
sonate the  gods  and  heroes  of  Greek  tragedy,  wore  highsoled  shoes, 
padded  garments,  and  great  masks  which  completely  enveloped  their 
heads,  leaving  only  small  apertures  for  the  mouth  and  eyes.  As  their 
stilts  and  stage-attire  impeded  any  free  movements,  their  acting  con- 
sisted of  little  more  than  a  series  of  tableaux  and  recitations,  while 
the  stately  musical  apostrophes  and  narrations  of  the  chorus  filled 
up  the  gaps  and  supplied  those  parts  of  the  story  not  acted  on  the 
stage.* 

The  performance  began  early  in  the  morning  and  lasted  all  day, 
eating  and  drinking  being  allowed  in  the  theatre.  The  price  of  seats 
varied  according  to  location,  but  the  poorer  classes  were  supplied  free 
tickets  by  the  government,  so  that  no  one  was  shut  out  by  poverty 
from  enjoying  this  peculiar  worship. f  Each  play  generally  occupied 
from  one  and  a  half  to  two  hoars.  The  audience  was  exceedingly 
demonstrative  ;  an  unpopular  actor  could  not  deceive  himself  ;  his 
voice  was  drowned  in  an  uproar  of  whistling,  clucking,  and  hissing, 

was  open  to  the  sky,  but  an  awning  might  be  drawn  to  shut  out  the  direct  rays  of 
the  sun,  while  little  jets  of  perfumed  water  cooled  and  refreshed  the  air.  To  aid  the 
vast  assembly  in  hearing,  brazen  bell-shaped  vases  were  placed  in  different  parts  of 
the  theatre. 

*  In  comedy,  the  actors  themselves  often  took  the  audience  into  their  confidence, 
explaining  the  situation  to  them  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  commenting 
"  sisters,  cousins  and  aunts,"  during  Buttercup's  confession  in  the  Pinafore. 

t  Tragedy,  which  dealt  with  the  national  gods  and  heroes,  was  to  the  Greeks  a 
veritably  religious  exercise,  strengthening  their  faith, and  quickening  their  sympathies 
for  the  woes  of  their  beloved  and  fate-driven  deities.  When,  as  in  rare  instances, 
a  subject  was  taken  from  contemporaneous  history,  no  representation  which  would 
pain  the  audience  was  allowed,  and  on  one  occasion  a  poet  was  heavily  fined  for 
presenting  a  play  which  touched  upon  a  recent  Athenian  defeat.  Some  great  public 
lesson  was  usually  hidden  in  the  comedies,  where  the  fashionable  follies  were  merci- 
lessly satirized,  and  many  a  useful  hint  took  root  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  when 
given  from  the  stage,  that  would  have  fallen  dead  or  unnoticed  if  put  forth  in  the 
assembly.  "  Quick  of  thought  and  utterance,  of  hearing  and  apprehension,  living 
together  in  open  public  intercourse,  reading  would  have  been  to  the  Athenians  a  slow 
process  for  the  interchange  of  ideas.  But  the  many  thousands  of  auditors  in  the 
Greek  theatre  caught,  as  with  an  electric  flash  of  intelligence,  the  noble  thought,  the 
withering  sarcasm,  the  flash  of  wit,  and  the  covert  innuendo."— P^i/i/;  Smith. 


THE     MANI^ERS     AN^D     CUSTOMS. 


189 


and  he  might  esteem  himself  happy  if  he  escaped  from  the  boards 
without  an  actual  beating.  The  favorite,  whether  on  the  stage  or  as 
a  spectator,  was  as  enthusiastically  applauded*  In  comedies,  tumult 
was  invited,  and  the  people  were  urged  to  shout  and  laugh,  the  comic 
poet  sometimes  throwing  nuts  and  figs  to  them,  that  their  scrambling 
and  screaming  might  add  to  the  evidences  of  a  complete  success. 


GRECIAN    FEMALE    HEADS. 


Marriage. — Athenians  could  legally  marry  only  among  themselves. 
The  ceremony  did  not  require  a  priestly  official,  but  was  preceded  by 
offerings ,  to  Zeus,  Hera,  Artemis,  and  other  gods  who  presided  over 
marriage.f  Omens  were  carefully  observed,  and  a  bath  in  water  from 
the  sacred  fountain,  Kallirrhoe,  was  an  indispensable  preparation.  On 
the  evening  of  the  wedding-day,  after  a  merry  dinner  given  at  her 


*  At  the  Olympian  games  when  Themistocles  entered,  it  is  related  that  the  whole 
assembly  rose  to  honor  him. 

t  In  Homer's  time  the  groom  paid  to  the  lady's  father  a  certain  sum  for  his  bride. 
Afterward  this  custom  was  re\'ersed,  and  the  amount  of  the  wife's  dowry  greatly 
affected  her  position  as  a,  married  woman.  At  the  formal  betrothal  preceding  every 
marriage  this  important  question  was  settled,  and  in  case  of  separation  the  dowry 
was  usually  returned  to  the  wife's  parents. 


190  GREECE. 

father's  house,  the  closely-veiled  bride  was  seated  in  a  chariot  between 
her  husband  and  his  "best  man,"  all  dressed  in  festive  robes  and 
garlanded  with  flowers.  Her  mother  kindled  the  nuptial  torch  at  the 
domestic  hearth,  a  procession  of  friends  and  attendants  was  formed, 
and,  amid  the  joyful  strains  of  the  marriage-song,  the  whistling  of 
flutes,  and  the  blinking  of  torches,  the  happy  pair  were  escorted  to 
their  future  home.  Here  they  were  saluted  with  a  shower  of  sweet- 
meats, after  which  followed  the  nuptial  banquet.  At  this  feast,  by 
privilege,  the  women  were  allowed  to  be  present,  though  they  sat  at  a 
separate  table,  and  the  bride  continued  veiled.  The  third  day  after 
marriage  the  veil  was  cast  aside,  and  wedding-presents  were  received. 
The  parties  most  concerned  in  marriage  were  seldom  consulted,  and  it 
was  not  uncommon  for  a  widow  to  find  herself  bequeathed  by  her 
deceased  husband's  will  to  one  of  his  friends  or  relatives. 

Death  and  Burial. — As  a  portal  festooned  with  flowers  an- 
nounced a  wedding,  so  a  vessel  of  water  placed  before  a  door  gave 
notice  of  a  death  within.*  As  soon  as  a  Greek  died,  an  obolus  was 
inserted  in  his  mouth  to  pay  his  fare  on  the  boat  across  the  River 
Styx  to  Hades.  His  body  was  then  washed,  anointed,  dressed  in 
white,  garlanded  with  flowers,  and  placed  on  a  conch  with  the  feet 
toward  the  outer  door.  A  formal  lament  f  followed,  made  by  the  female 
friends  and  relatives,  assisted  by  hired  mourners.  On  the  third  day 
the  body  was  carried  to  the  spot  where  it  was  to  be  buried  or  burned. 
It  was  preceded  by  a  hired  chorus  of  musicians  and  the  male  mourners, 
who,  dressed  in  black  or  gray,  had  their  hair  closely  cut.:}:  The  female 
mourners  walked  behind  the  bier.  If  the  body  was  burned,  sacrifices 
were  offered  ;  then,  after  all  was  consumed,  the  fire  was  extinguished 
with  wine,  and  the  ashes,  sprinkled  with  oil  and  wine,  were  collected 
in  a  clay  or  bronze  cinerary.  Various  articles  were  stored  with  the 
dead,  such  as  mirrors,  trinkets,  and  elegantly-painted  vases.  The 
burial  was  followed  by  a  feast,  which  was  considered  as  given  by  the 
deceased  (compare  p.  42).     Sacrifices  of  milk,  honey,  wine,  olives,  and 

*  The  water  was  always  brought  from  some  other  dwelling  and  was  used  for  the 
purification  of  visitors,  as  everything  within  the  house  of  mourning  was  polluted  by 
the  preseiice  of  the  dead. 

t  Solon  sought  to  restrain  these  ostentatious  excesses  by  enacting  that,  except 
the  nearest  relatives,  no  women  under  sixty  years  of  age  should  enter  a  house  of 
mourning.  In  the  heroic  days  of  Greece  the  lament  lasted  several  days  (that  of 
Achilles  continued  seventeen),  but  in  later  times  an  early  burial  was  thought  pleasmg 
to  the  dead.  The  funeral  pomp,  which  afterward  became  a  common  custom,  was 
originally  reserved  for  heroes  alone.  In  the  earlier  Attic  burials  the  grave  was  dug 
by  the  nearest  relatives,  and  afterward  sown  with  corn  that  the  body  might  be  recom- 
pensed for  its  own  decay. 

$  When  a  great  general  died,  the  hair  and  manes  of  all  the  army  horses  were 
cropped. 


THE     MARKERS     AND     CUSTOMS. 


191 


flowers  were  periodically  offered  at  the  grave,  where  slaves  kept  watch. 
Sometimes  a  regular  banquet  was  served,  and  a  blood  sacrifice  offered 
by  the  side  of  the  tomb.  The  dead  person  was  supposed  to  be  con- 
scious of  all  these  attentions,  and  to  be  displeased  when  an  enemy 
approached  his  ashes.  Malefactors,  traitors,  and  people  struck  by 
lightning*  were  denied  burial,  which  in  Greece,  as  in  Egypt,  was  the 
highest  possible  dishonor. 


GRECIAN   WARRIORS  AND   ATTENDANT. 


"Weapons  of  War  and  Defence.— The  Greeks  fought  with 
long  spears,  swords,  clubs,  battle-axes,  bows,  and  slings.  In  the 
heroic  age,  chariots  were  employed,  and  the  Avarrior,  standing  by  the 
side  of  the  charioteer,  was  driven  to  the  front,  where  he  engaged  in 
single  combat.  Afterward  the  chariot  was  used  only  in  races.  A 
soldier  in  full  armor  wore  a  leather  or  metal  helmet,  covering  his  head 
and  face  ;  a  cuirass  made  of  iron  plates,  or  a  leather  coat  of  mail  over- 
laid with  iron  scales  ;  bronze  greaves,  reaching  from  above  the  knee 

*  Such  a  death  was  supposed  to  be  a  direct  punishment  from  the  gods  for  some 
great  offence  or  hidden  depravity. 


192  GREECE. 

down  to  the  ankle  ;  and  a  shield  *  made  of  ox-hides,  covered  with 
metal,  and  sometimes  extending  from  head  to  foot.  Thus  equipped 
they  advanced  slowly  and  steadily  into  action  in  a  uniform  phalanx  of 
about  eight  spears  deep,  the  warriors  of  each  tribe  arrayed  together, 
so  that  individual  or  sectional  bravery  was  easily  distinguished.  The 
light  infantry  wore  no  armor,  but  sometimes  carried  a  shield  of  willow 
twigs,  covered  with  leather.  In  Homer's  time,  bows,  six  feet  long, 
were  made  of  the  horns  of  the  antelope.  Cavalry  horses  were  pro- 
tected by  armor,  and  the  rider  sat  upon  a  saddle-cloth,  a  luxury  not 
indulged  in  on  ordinary  occasions.  Stirrups  and  horseshoes  were  un- 
known. The  ships  of  Greece,  like  those  of  Phoenicia  and  Carthage, 
were  flat-bottomed  barges  or  galleys,  mainly  propelled  by  oars.  The 
oarsmen  sat  in  rows  or  banks,  one  above  the  other,  the  number  of 
banks  determining  the  name  of  the  vessel. f  Bows  and  arrows,  jav- 
elins, ballistas,  and  catapults  were  the  offensive  weapons  used  at  a 
distance,  but  the  main  tactics  consisted  in  running  the  sharp  iron  prow 
of  the  attacking  vessel  against  the  enemy's  broadside  to  sink  it,  or 
else,  steering  alongside,  boarding  the  enemy  and  making  a  hand-to- 
hand  fight. 

SCENES   IN    REAL    LIFE. 

Retrospect. — We  will  suppose  it  to  be  about  the  close  of  the 
fifth  century  B.  c,  with  the  Peloponnesian  War  just  ended.  The  world 
is  two  thousand  years  older  than  when  we  watched  the  building  of  the 
great  pyramid  at  Gizeh,  and  fifteen  centuries  have  passed  since  the 
Labyrinth  began  to  show  its  marble  colonnades.  Those  times  are  even 
now  remote  antiquities,  and  fifty  years  ago  Herodotus  delighted  the 
wondering  Greeks  with  his  description  of  the  ancient  ruins  in  the 
Fayoom.  It  is  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  since  Asshur-bani- 
pal  sat  on  the  throne  of  tottering  Nineveh,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
since  the  fall  of  Babylon.     Let  us  now  visit  Sparta. 

Scene  I. — A  Day  in  Sparta. — A  hilly,  un walled  city  on  a  riyer 
bank,  with  mountains  in  the  distance.  A  great  square  or  forum 
(Agora)  with  a  few  modest  temples,  statues,  and  porticoes.  On  the 
highest  hill  (Acropolis),  in  the  midst  of  a  grove,  more  temples  and 

*  Thege  shields  were  sometimes  richly  decorated  with  emblems  and  inscriptions. 
Thus  ^schylus,  in  The  ^ven  Chiefs  against  Thebes^  describes  one  warrior's  shield 
as  bearing  a  flaming  torch,  with  the  motto,  "I  will  burn  the  city";  and  another  as 
having  an  armed  man  climbing  a  scaling-ladder,  and  for  an  inscription,  "  Not  Mars 
himself  shall  beat  me  from  the  towers." 

t  A  ship  with  three  banks  of  oars  was  called  a  trireme ;  with  four,  a  quadrireme, 
etc.  In  the  times  of  the  Ptolemies  galleys  of  twelve,  fifteen,  twenty,  and  even  forty 
banks  of  oars  were  built.  The  precise  arrangement  of  the  oarsmen  in  these  large 
ships  is  not  known.    (See  cut,  p.  158.) 


THE     MAKNERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  193 

statues,  among  them  a  brass  statue  of  Zeus,  the  most  ancient  in  Greece. 
In  the  suburbs  the  hippodrome,  for  foot  and  horse  races,  and  the 
plataiiistce — a  grove  of  beautiful  palm-trees,  partly  enclosed  by  run- 
ning streams — where  the  Spartan  youth  gather  for  athletic  sports.  A 
scattered  city,  its  small,  mean  houses  grouped  here  and  there  ;  its 
streets  narrow  and  dirty.     This  is  Sparta. 

If  we  wish  to  enter  a  house,  we  have  simply  to  announce  ourselves 
in  a  loud  voice,  and  a  slave  will  admit  us.  We  shall  hear  no  cry  of 
puny  infants  within  ;  the  little  boys,  none  of  them  over  seven  years 
old  (p.  179),  are  strong  and  sturdy,  and  the  girls  are  few  ;  their  weak 
or  deformed  brothers  and  surplus  sisters  have  been  cast  out  in  their 
babyhood  to  perish,  or  to  become  the  slaves  of  whoever  should  rescue 
them.  The  mother  is  here  ;  a  brawny,  strong-minded,  strong-fisted 
woman,  whose  chief  pride  is  that  she  can  fell  an  enemy  with  one 
blow.  Her  dress  consists  of  two  garments,  a  chiton,*  and  over  it  a 
peplos  or  short  cloak,  which  clasps  above  the  shoulders,  leaving  the 
arms  bare.  She  appears  in  public  when  she  pleases,  and  may  even 
give  her  opinion  on  matters  of  state.  When  her  husband  or  sons  go 
forth  to  battle  she  sheds  no  sentimental  tears,  but  hands  to  each  his 
shield,  with  the  proud  injunction,  "Return  with  it,  or  upon  it."  No 
cowards,  whatever  their  excuses,  find  favor  with  her.  When  the  blind 
Eurytus  was  led  by  his  slave  into  the  foremost  rank  at  ThermopylaD, 
she  thought  of  him  as  having  simply  performed  his  duty ;  when 
Aristodemus  made  his  blindness  an  excuse  for  staying  away,  she  re- 
viled his  cowardice  ;  and  though  he  afterward  died  the  most  heroic  of 
deaths  at  Plataea,  it  counted  him  nothing.  She  educates  her  daughters 
to  the  same  unflinching  defiance  of  womanly  tenderness.  They  are 
trained  in  the  Palaestra  or  wrestling-school  till  they  can  run,  wrestle, 
and  fight  as  well  as  their  brothers.  They  wear  but  one  garment,  a 
short  sleeveless  chiton,  open  upon  one  side,  and  often  not  reaching  to 
the  knee.  The  Spartan  gentleman,  who  sees  little  of  his  family,  is 
debarred  by  law  from  trade  or  agriculture,  and,  having  no  taste  for  art 
or  literature,  spends  his  time,  when  not  in  actual  warfare,  in  daily 
military  drill,  and  in  governing  his  helots.  He  never  appears  in  public 
without  his  attendant  slaves,  but  prudence  compels  him  to  walk  be- 
hind rather  than  before  them.  In  the  street  his  dress  is  a  short,  coarse 
cloak,  with  or  without  a  chiton  ;  perhaps  a  pair  of  thong-strapped 
sandals,  a  cane,  and  a  seal-ring.  He  usually  goes  bare-headed,  but 
when  traveling  in  the  hot  sun  wears  a  broad-brimmed  hat  or  bonnet. 
His  ideal  character  is  one  of  relentless  energy  and  brute  force,  and  his 

*  The  Doric  chiton  was  a  simple  woolen  shift,  consisting  of  two  short  pieces  of 
cloth,  sewed  or  clasped  together  on  one  or  both  sides  up  to  the  breast ;  the  parts 
covering  the  breast  and  back  were  fastened  over  each  shoulder,  leaving  the  open 
spaces  at  the  side  for  arm-holes.    It  was  confined  about  the  waist  with  a  girdle. 


194  GREECE. 

standard  of  excellence  is  a  successful  defiance  of  all  pain,  and  an 
ability  to  conquer  in  every  fight. 

Scene  II. — A  Day  in  Athens  (4tli  century  b.  c.).— To  see  Athens 
is,  first  of  all,  to  admire  the  j\propolis.  A  high,  steep,  rocky,  but 
broad-crested  hill,  sloping  toward  the  city  and  the  distant  sea  ;  ascended 
by  a  marble  road  for  chariots,  and  marble  steps  for  pedestrians  ;  entered 
through  a  magnificent  gateway  (the  Propylaea) ;  and  crowned  on  its 
spacious  summit — one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  level  at  its 
base — with  a  grove  of  stately  temples,  statues,*  and  altars. 

Standing  on  the  Acropolis,  on  a  bright  morning  about  the  year  300 
B.  c,  a  magnificent  view  opens  on  every  side.  Away  to  the  southwest 
for  four  miles  stretch  the  Long  Walls,  five  hundred  and  fifty  feet  apart, 
leading  to  the  Piraean  harbor  ;  beyond  them  the  sea,  dotted  with  sails, 
glistens  in  the  early  sun.  Between  us  and  the  harbors  lie  the  porticoed 
and  templed  Agora,  bustling  with  the  morning  commerce  ;  the  Pnyx,f 
with  its  stone  bema,  from  which  Demosthenes  sixty  or  more  years  ago 
essayed  his  first  speech  amid  hisses  and  laughter ;  the  Areopagus, 
where  from  time  immemorial  the  learned  court  of  archons  has  held 
its  sittings  ;  the  hill  of  the  Museum,  crowned  by  a  fortress  ;  the  tem- 
ples of  Hercules,  Demeter,  and  Artemis  ;  the  Gymnasium  of  Hermes  ; 
and,  near  the  Piraean  gate,  a  little  grove  of  statues, — among  them  one 
of  Socrates,  who  drank  the  hemlock  and  went  to  sleep  a  hundred 
years  ago.  At  our  feet,  circling  about  the  hill,  are  amphitheatres  for 
musical  and  dramatic  festivals,  elegant  temples  and  colonnades,  and 
the  famous  Street  of  Tripods,  more  beautiful  than  ever  since  the  recent 
erection  of  the  monument  of  the  choragus  Lysicrates.  Turning  toward 
the  East  we  see  the  Lyceum,  where  Aristotle  walked  and  talked 
within  the  last  half  century  ;  and  the  Cynosarges,  where  Antisthenes, 
the  father  of  the  Cynics,  had  his  school.  Still  fuither  to  the  north 
rises  the  white  top  of  Mt.  Lycabettus,  beyond  which  is  the  plain  of 
Marathon  ;  and  on  the  south  the  green  and  flowery  ascent  of  Mt. 
Hymettus,  swarming  with  bees,  and  equally  famous  for  its  honey  and 

*  Towering  over  all  the  other  statues  was  the  bronze  Athena  Promachus,  by 
Phidias,  cast  out  of  spoils  won  at  Marathon.  It  was  sixty  feet  high,  and  represented 
the  goddess  with  her  spear  and  shield  in  the  attitude  of  a  combatant.  The  remains 
of  the  Erechiheiym,  a  beautiful  and  peculiar  temple  sacred  to  two  deities,  stood  near 
the  Parthenon.  It  had  been  burned  during  the  invasion  of  Xerxes,  but  was  in  process 
of  restoration  when  the  Peloponnesian  War  broke  out.  Part  of  it  was  dedicated  to 
Athena  Polias,  whose  olive-wood  statue  within  its  walls  was  reputed  to  have  fallen 
from  heaven.  It  was  also  said  to  contain  the  sacred  olive-tree  brought  forth  by 
Athena,  the  spring  of  water  which  followed  the  stroke  of  Poseidon's  trident,  and 
even  the  impression  of  the  trident  itself ! 

t  The  two  hills,  the  Pnyx  and  the  Areopagus,  were  famous  localities.  Upon  the 
former  the  assemblies  of  the  people  were  held.  The  stone  pulpit  {bema),  from  which 
the  orators  d«claimed,  and  traces  of  the  leveled  arena  where  the  people  gathered  to 
listen,  are  still  seen  on  the  Pnyx. 


THE     MARKERS     AKD     CUSTOMS 


195 


its  marble.  Througli  the  city,  to  the  southeast,  flows  the  river  Ilissus, 
sacred  to  the  Muses.  As  we  look  about  us  we  are  struck  by  the  ab- 
sence of  spires  or  pinnacles.  There  are  no  hig:h  towers  as  in  Babylon  ; 
no  lofty  obelisks  as  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  ;  and,  on  the  tiled  roofs, 
all  flat  or  slightly  gabled,  we  detect  many  a  favorite  promenade. 


GRECIAN    LADIES   AND   ATTENUAXT. 


A  Greek  Home. — The  Athenian  gentleman  usually  arises  at  dawn, 
and  after  a  slight  repast  of  bread  and  wine  goes  out  with  his  slaves  * 
for  a  walk  or  ride,  previous  to  his  customary  daily  lounge  in  the  market- 
place. While  he  is  absent,  if  we  are  ladies  we  may  visit  the  house- 
hold. We  are  quite  sure  to  find  the  mistress  at  home,  for,  especially 
if  she  be  young,  she  never  ventures  outside  her  dwelling  without  her 
husband's  permission  ;  nor  does  she  receive  within  it  any  but  her  lady- 
friends  and  nearest  male  relatives.  The  exterior  of  the  house  is  very 
plain.  Built  of  common  stone,  brick,  or  wood,  and  coated  with  plaster, 
it  abuts  so  closely  upon  the  street  that  if  the  door  has  been  made  to 
open  outward  (a  tax  is  paid  for  the  privilege)  the  comer-out  is  obliged 
to  knock  before  opening  it,  in  order  to  warn  the  passers-by.  The  dead- 
wall  before  us  has  no  lower  windows,  but  a  strong  door  furnished  with 


*  No  gentleman  in  Athens  went  out  unless  he  was  accompanied  by  his  servants. 
To  be  unattended  by  at  least  one  slave  w^s  a  sign  of  extreme  indigence,  and  no  more 
to  be  thought  of  than  to  be  seen  without  a  cane,  which  was  also  indispensable.  "A 
gentleman  found  going  about  without  a  walking-stick  was  presumed  by  the  police  to 
be  disorderly,  and  was  imprisoned  for  the  night." 


196  GEEECE. 

knocker  and  handle,  and  beside  it  a  Hermes  (p.  144)  or  an  altar  to 
Apollo.  Over  the  door,  as  in  Egypt,  is  an  inscription,  here  reading, 
"  To  the  good  genius,"  followed  by  the  name  of  the  owner.  In  re- 
sponse to  our  knock,  the  porter,  who  is  always  in  attendance,  opens  the 
door.  Carefully  placing  our  right  foot  on  the  threshold — it  would  be 
an  unlucky  omen  to  touch  it  with  the  left — we  pass  through  a  long 
corridor  to  a  large  court  open  to  the  sky,  and  surrounded  by  arcades  or 
porticoes.  This  is  the  peristyle  of  the  androidtis,  or  apartments  be- 
longing to  the  master  of  the  house.  Around  the  peristyle  lie  the  ban- 
queting, music,  sitting  and  sleeping  rooms,  the  picture  galleries  and 
libraries.  A  second  corridor,  opening  opposite  the  first,  leads  to  another 
porticoed  court,  with  rooms  about  and  behind  it.  This  is  the  gynm- 
cordtis,  the  domain  of  the  mistress.  Here  the  daughters  and  hand- 
maidens always  remain,  occupied  with  their  woolcarding,  spinning, 
weaving,  and  embroidery,  and  hither  the  mother  retires  when  her 
husband  entertains  guests  in  the  andronitis.  The  floors  are  plastered 
and  tastefully  painted,*  the  walls  are  frescoed,  and 
the  cornices  and  ceilings  are  ornamented  with 
stucco.  The  rooms  are  warmed  from  fire-places, 
or  braziers  of  hot  coke  or  charcoal ;  they  are  lighted 
mostly  from  doors  opening  upon  the  porticoes.  In 
the  first  court  is  an  altar  to  Zeus,  and  in  the  second 
the  never-forgotten  one  to  Hestia.  The  furniture 
is  simple,  but  remarkable  for  elegance  of  design. 
Along  the  walls  are  seats  or  sofas  covered  with 
AN  ANCIENT  BRAZIER,  sklus  or  purple  carpets,  and  heaped  with  cushions. 
There  are  also  light  folding-stools  f  and  richly- 
carved  armchairs,  and  scattered  about  the  rooms  are  tripods,  support- 
ing exquisitely-painted  vases.  In  the  bedrooms  of  this  luxurious 
home  are  couches  of fcevery  degree  of  magnificence,  made  of  olive-wood 
inlaid  with  gold  and  ivory  or  veneered  with  tortoise-shell,  or  of 
ivory  richly  embossed,  or  even  of  solid  silver.  On  these  are  laid 
mattresses  of  sponge,  feathers,  or  plucked  wool;  and  over  them  soft, 
gorgeously-colored  blankets,  or  a  coverlet  made  of  peacock  skins, 
dressed  with  the  feathers  on, if  and  perfumed  with  imported  essences. 

*  In  later  times  flagging  and  mosaics  were  used.  Before  the  4th  century  b.  c.  the 
plaster-walls  were  simply  whitewashed. 

t  The  four-legged,  hackless  stool  was  called  a  diphros  ;  when  an  Athenian  gentle- 
man walked  out,  one  of  his  slaves  generally  carried  a  diphros  for  the  convenience  of 
his  master  when  wearied.  To  the  diphros  a  curved  back  was  sometimes  added,  and 
the  legs  made  immovable.  It  was  then  called  a  klismos.  A  high,  large  chair,  with 
straight  back  and  low  arms,  was  a  thronos.  The  thronoi  in  the  temples  were  for  the 
gods  ;  those  in  dwellings,  for  the  master  and  his  guests.  A  footstool  was  indispens- 
able, and  was  sometimes  attached  to  the  front  legs  of  the  thronos. 

X  "  One  of  the  greatest  improvements  introduced  by  the  Greeks  into  the  art  of 


THE     MAK^ERS    AKD     CUSTOMS.  197 

The  mistress  of  the  house,  who  is  superintending  the  domestic  labor, 
is  dressed  in  a  long  chiton,  doubled  over  at  the  top  so  as  to  form  a  kind 
of  cape  which  hangs  down  loosely,  clasped  on  the  shoulders,  girdled 
at  the  waist,  and  falling  in  many  folds  to  her  feet.  When  she  ventures 
abroad,  as  she  occasionally  does  to  the  funeral  of  a  near  relation,  to 
the  great  religious  festivals,  and  sometimes  to  hear  a  tragedy,  she 
wears  a  cloak  or  himation.*  The  Athenian  wife  has  not  the  privileges 
of  the  Spartan.  The  husband  and  father  is  the  complete  master  of  his 
household,  and,  so  far  from  allowing  his  wife  to  transact  any  inde- 
pendent bargains,  he  "may  be  legally  absolved  from  any  contract  her 
request  or  counsel  has  induced  him  to  make. — This  is  a  busy  morning 
in  the  home,  for  the  master  has  gone  to  the  market-place  to  invite  a 
few  friends  to  an  evening  banquet.  The  foreign  cooks,  hired  for  the 
occasion,  are  already  here,  giving  orders,  and  preparing  choice  dishes. 
At  noon,  all  business  in  the  market-place  having  ceased,  the  Athenian 
gentleman  returns  to  his  home  for  his  midday  meal  and  his  siesta,  f 
As  the  cooler  hours  come  on,  he  repairs  to  the  crowded  Gymnasium, 
where  he  may  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  the  bath,  listen  to  the  learned 
lectures  'of  philosophers  and  rhetoricians,  or  join  in  the  racing,  mili- 
tary, and  gymnastic  exercises.  %  Toward  sunset  he  again  seeks  his 
home  to  await  his  invited  guests. 

The  Banquet. — As  each  guest  arrives,  a  slave  §  meets  him  in  the 
court,  and  ushers  him  into  the  large  triclinium  or  dining-room,  where 
his^  host  warmly  greets  him,  and  assigns  to  him  a  section  of  a  couch. 
Before  he  reclines,  |  however,  a  slave  unlooses  his  sandals  and  washes 

sleeping  was  the  practice  of  undressing  before  going  to  bed— a  thing  unheard  of  until 
hit  upon  by  their  inventive  g&a.ms,'"—Felton. 

*  The  dress  of  both  sexes  was  nearly  the  same.  The  himation  was  a  large,  square 
piece  of  cloth,  so  wrapped  about  the  form  as  to  leave  only  the 'right  arm  free.  Much 
skill  was  required  to  drape  it  artistically,  and  the  taste  and  elegance  of  the  wearer 
were  decided  by  his  manner  of  carrying  it.  The  same  himation  often  served  for  both 
husband  and  wife,  and  it  is  related  as  among  the  unamiable  traits  of  Xantippe,  the 
shrewish  wife  of  Socrates,  that  she  refused  to  go  out  in  her  husband's  himation.  A 
gentleman  usually  wore  a  chiton  also,  though  he  was  considered  fully  dressed  in  the 
himation  alone.  The  lov/er  classes  wore  only  the  chiton,  or  were  clothed  in  tanned 
skins.  Raiment  was  cheap  in  Greece.  In  the  time  of  Socrates  a  chiton  cost  about  a 
dollar,  and  an  ordinary  himation,  two  dollars. 

t  The  poorer  classes  gathered  together  in  groups  along  the  porticoes  for  gossip 
or  slumber,  where  indeed  they  not  unfrequently  spent  their  nights. 

%  Ball-playine,  which  was  a  favorite  game  with  the  Greeks,  was  taught  scien- 
tifically in  the  gymnasium.  The  balls  were  made  of  colored  leather,  stuffed  with 
feathers,  wool,  or  fig-seeds,  or,  if  very  large,  were  hollow.  Cock-and-quail  fighting 
was  another  exciting  amusement,  and,  at  Athens,  took  place  annually  by  law,  as  an 
instructive  exhibition  of  bravery. 

§  A  guest  frequently  brought  his  own  slave  to  assist  in  personal  attendance  upon 
himself. 

1  The  mode  of  reclining,  which  was  similar  to  that  in  Assyria,  is  shown  in  the 


198 


GREECE. 


A   GREEK   SYMPOSIUM. 


his  feet  in  perfumed  wine.  The  time  having  arrived  for  dinner,  water 
is  passed  around  for  hand  ablutions,  and  small,  low  tables  are  brought 
in,  one  being  placed  before  each  couch.  There  are  no  knives  and  forks, 
no  table-cloths  or  napkins.  Some  of  the  guests  wear  gloves  to  enable 
them  to  take  the  food  quite  hot,  others  have  hardened  their  fingers  by 
handling  hot  pokers,  and  one,  a  noted  gourmand,  has  prepared  him- 
self with  metallic  finger-guards.  The  slaves  now  hasten  with  the  first 
course,  which  opens  with  sweetmeats,  and  includes  many  delicacies. 


cut,  the  place  of  honor  being  next  the  host.  The  Greek  wife  and  daughter  never 
appeared  at  these  banquets,  and  at  their  every-day  meals  the  wife  sat  on  the  couch 
at  the  feet  of  her  master.  The  sons  were  not  permitted  to  recline  till  they  were 
of  age. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  199 

such  as  thrushes,  hares,  oysters,  pungent  herbs,  and,  best  of  all, 
Copaic  eels,  cooked  crisp  and  brown,  and  wrapped  in  beet  leaves.* 
Bread  is  handed  around  in  tiny  baskets,  woven  of  slips  of  ivory.  Little 
talking  is  done,  for  it  is  good  breeding  to  remain  quiet  until  the  sub- 
stantial viands  are  honored.  From  time  to  time  the  guests  wipe  their 
fingers  upon  bits  of  bread,  throwing  the  fragments  under  the  table. 
This  course  being  finished,  the  well-trained  slaves  sponge  or  remove 
the  tables,  brush  up  the  dough,  bones,  and  other  remnants  from  the 
floor,  and  pass  again  the  jierfumed  water  for  hand- washing.  Garlands 
of  myrtle  and  roses,  gay  ribbons,  and  sweet-scented  ointments  are 
distributed,  a  golden  bowl  of  wine  is  brought,  and  the  meal  closes 
with  a  libation. 

The  Symposium  is  introduced  by  a  second  libation,  accompanied  by 
hymns  and  the  solemn  notes  of  a  flute.  The  party,  hitherto  silent, 
rapidly  grow  merry,  while  the  slaves  bring  in  the  dessert  and  the  wine, 
which  now  for  the  first  time  appears  at  the  feast.  The  dessert  con- 
sists of  fresh  fruits,  olives  well  ripened  on  the  tree,  dried  figs,  imported 
dates,  curdled  cream,  honey,  cheese,  and  the  salt-sprinkled  cakes  for 
which  Athens  is  renowned.  A  large  crater  or  wine- bowl,  ornamented 
with  groups  of  dancing  bacchanals,  is  placed  before  one  of  the 
guests,  who  has  been  chosen  archon.  He  is  to  decide  upon  the  proper 
mixture  of  the  wine,f  the  nature  of  the  forfeits  in  the  games  of  the 
evening,  and,  in  fact,  is  henceforth  king  of  the  feast.  The  sport  be- 
gins with  riddles.  This  is  a  favorite  pastime  ;  every  failure  in  guessing 
requires  a  forfeit,  and  the  penalty  is  to  drink  a  certain  quantity  of 
wine.  Music,  charades,  dancing  and  juggling  performed  by  profes- 
sionals, and  a  variety  of  entertainments,  help  the  hours  to  fly,  and 
the  Symposium  ends  at  last  by  the  whole  party  inviting  them- 
selves to  some  other  banqueting-place,  where  they  spend  the  night 
in  revel.  | 

*  The  Greeks  were  extravagantly  fond  of  fish.  Pork,  the  abhorred  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, was  their  favorite  meat.  Bread,  more  than  anything  else,  was  the  "  staff  of 
life,"  all  other  food,  except  sweetmeats— even  meat— being  called  relish.  Sweetmeats 
weresuperstitiously  regarded,  and  scattering  them.about  the  house  was  an  invitation 
to  good  luck. 

t  To  drink  wine  clear  was  disreputable,  and  it  was  generally  diluted  with  two- 
thirds  water. 

X  The  fashionable  Symposia  were  usually  of  the  character  described  above,  but 
sometimes  they  were  more  intellectual,  affording  an  occasion  for  the  brilliant  display 
of  Attic  wit  and  learning.  The  drinking  character  of  the  party  was  always  the 
same,  and  in  Plato's  Dialogue,  The  Symposium,  in  which  Aristophanes,  Socrates,  and 
other  literary  celebrities  took  part,  the  evening  is  broken  in  upon  by  two  different 
bands  of  revelers,  and  daj'light  finds  Socrates  and  Aristophanes  still  drinking 
with  the  host.  "Parasites  (a  recognized  class  of  people,  who  lived  by  sponging 
their  dinners)  and  mountebanks  always  took  the  liberty  to  drop  in  wherever  there 
was  a  feast,  a  fact  which  they  ascertained  by  walking  through  the  streets  and  snufllng 
at  the  kitchens."— jF'c^^on. 


200  GREECE 


4.    SUMMARY. 

1.  Political  History. — The  Pelasgians  were  the  primitive  in- 
habitants of  Greece.  In  time  the  Hellenes  descend  from  the  north, 
and  give  their  name  to  the  land.  It  is  the  Heroic  Age,  the  era  of  the 
sons  of  the  gods — Hercules,  Theseus,  and  Jason — of  the  Argonautic 
Expedition  and  the  Siege  of  Troy.  With,  the  Dorian  Migration 
("Return  of  the  Heraclidse")  and  their  settlement  in  the  Pelopon- 
nesus, the  mythic  stories  end  and  real  history  begins.  The  kings 
disappear,  and  nearly  all  the  cities  become  little  republics.  Hellenic 
colonies  arise  in  Asia  Minor,  rivaling  the  glory  of  Greece  itself.  Ly- 
curgus  now  enacts  his  cruel  laws  (850  B.  c).  In  the  succeeding  cen- 
turies the  Spartans— pitiless,  fearless,  haughty  warriors — conquer 
Messenia,  become  the  head  of  the  Peloponnesus,  and  threaten  all 
Greece.  Meanwhile  Athens,  spite  of  Draconian  laws,  the  curse  of  the 
Alcmaeonidse,  the  factions  of  the  men  of  the  plain,  the  coast,  and  the 
mountain,  and  the  tyranny  of  the  Pisistratidae,  by  the  wise  measures 
of  Solon  and  Cleisthenes  becomes  a  powerful  republic. 

Athens  now  sends  help  to  the  Greeks  of  Asia  Minor  against  the 
Persians,  and  the  Asiatic  deluge  is  precipitated  upon  Greece.  Miltiades 
defeats  Darius  on  the  field  of  Marathon  (490  b.  c).  Ten  years  later 
Xerxes  forces  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  slays  Leonidas  and  his  three 
hundred  Spartans,  and  burns  Athens  ;  but  his  fleet  is  put  to  flight  at 
Salamis,  the  next  year  his  army  is  routed  by  Themistocles  at  Platsea, 
and  his  remaining  ships  are  destroyed  at  Mycale.  Thus  Europe  is 
saved  from  Persian  despotism. 

The  Age  of  Pericles  follows,  and  Athens,  grown  to  be  a  great 
commercial  city — its  streets  thronged  with  traders  and  its  harbor  with 
ships — is  the  head  of  Greece.  Sparta  is  jealous,  and  the  Peloponnesian 
War  breaks  out  in  431  b.  c.  Its  twenty-seven  years  of  alternate  vic- 
tories and  defeats  end  in  the  fatal  expedition  to  Syracuse,  the  defeat 
of  .^gos  Potamos  and  the  fall  of  Athens. 

Sparta  is  now  supreme  ;  but  her  cruel  rule  is  broken  by  Epaminon- 
das  on  the  field  of  Leuctra.  Thebes  comes  to  the  front,  but  Greece, 
rent  by  rivalries,  is  overwhelmed  by  Philip  of  Macedon  in  the  battle 
of  Chseronea.  The  conqueror  dying  soon  after,  his  greater  son, 
Alexander,  leads  the  armies  of  united  Greece  into  Asia.  The  battles 
of  Granicus,  Issus,  and  Arbela  subdue  the  Persian  empire.  Thence 
the  conquering  leader  marches  eastward  to  the  Indus,  and  returns  to 
Babylon  only  to  die  (323  b.  c).  His  generals  divide  his  empire  among 
themselves  ;  while  Greece,  a  prey  to  dissensions,  at  last  drops  into  the 
^11-absorbjng  Roman  empire  (146  b.  c). 


SUMMARY.  201 

2.  Civilization. — Athens  and  Sparta  differ  widely  in  thought, 
habits,  and  taste.  The  Spartans  care  little  for  art  and  literature,  and 
glory  only  in  war  and  patriotism.  They  are  rigid  in  their  selfdis 
cipline,  and  cruel  to  their  slaves.  They  smother  all  tender  home  sen- 
timent, eat  at  the  public  mess,  give  their  seven-years-old  boys  to  the 
state,  and  train  their  girls  in  the  rough  sports  of  the  palaestra.  They 
distrust  and  exclude  strangers,  and  make  no  effort  to  adorn  their 
capital  with  art  or  architecture. 

The  Athenians  adore  art,  beauty,  and  intellect.  Versatile  and 
brilliant,  they  are  fond  of  novelties  and  eager  for  discussions.  Law 
courts  abound,  and  the  masses  imbibe  an  education  in  the  theatre, 
along  the  busy  streets,  and  on  the  Pnyx.  In  their  democratic  city, 
filled  with  magnificent  temples,  statues,  and  colonnades,  wit  and  talent 
are  the  keys  that  unlock  the  doors  of  every  saloon.  Athens  becomes 
the  center  of  the  world's  history  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  fine  arts. 
Poetry  and  philosophy  flourish  alike  in  her  classic  atmosphere,  and  all 
the  provinces  feel  the  pulse  of  her  artistic  heart. 

Grecian  art  and  literature  furnish  models  for  all  time.  Infant 
Greece  produces  Homer  and  Hesiod,  the  patriarchs  of  epic  poetry. 
Coming  down  the  centuries  she  brings  out  in  song,  and  hymn,  and  ode, 
Sappho,  Simonides,  and  Pindar  ;  in  tragedy,  -^schylus,  Sophocles, 
and  Euripedes  ;  in  comed3%  Aristophanes  and  Menander ;  in  history, 
Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  Xenophon ;  in  oratory,  Pericles  and 
Demosthenes  ;  in  philosophy,  Thales,  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  Plato,  and 
Aristotle  ;  in  painting,  Apelles ;  in  sculpture,  Phidias,  Praxiteles,  and 
Lysippus. 

Greek  mythology  invests  every  stream,  grove,  and  mountain  with 
gods  and  goddesses,  nymphs,  and  naiads.  The  beloved  deities  are 
worshipped  with  songs  and  dances,  dramas  and  festivals,  spirited 
contests  and  gorgeous  processions.  The  Four  Great  National  Games 
unite  all  Greece  in  a  sacred  bond.  The  Feasts  of  Dionysos  give  birth 
to  the  drama.  The  Four  Great  Schools  of  Philosophy  flourish  and 
decay,  leaving  their  impress  upon  the  generations  to  come.  Finally, 
Grecian  civilization  is  transported  to  the  Tiber,  and  becomes  blended 
with  the  national  peculiarities  of  the  conquering  Romans. 


READING    REFERENCES. 

GroWs  History  of  Greece.— Arnold's  History  of  Greece  —  Curtim''s  History  */ 
Greece.— FeltorCs  Ancient  and  Modem  Greece.—Hlsiory  Primers  ;  Greece,  and  Greek 
Antiquities,  edited  by  Green.— Smith's  Student's  History  of  Greece.— Becker's  Chari- 
des.—Gvhl  and  Koner's  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans— Bryce's  History  of  Greece, 
in  Freeman's  Series.— Freeman's  General  Sketch  of  European  History.— (Jollier's 
History  of  Greece.— Heeren's  Historical  Researches.— Putz  s  Hand-book  of  Ancient 
History.— Bulxoer's  Rise  and  Fall  of  Athens, -Williams's  Life  of  Alexander  the 


202 


GREECE, 


Great.— ThirwaWs  History  of  Greece.— Niebuhr'' s  Lectures  on  Ancient  History.— 
Xenophon's  Anabasis,  Memorabilia,  and  Cycropoedia.—St.  John's  The  Hellenes ; 
Manners  and  Customs  of  Ancient  Greece.— Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture.— 
Stuart" s  Antiquities  of  Athens.— Mahaffy's  History  of  Greek  Literature.— Quackenbos' 8 
Ancient  Literature. 


CHRONOLOGY. 

B.C. 

Dorian  Migration,  about 1100 

Lycurgus,  about 850 

First  Olympiad 776 

[It  is  curious  to  notice  how  many  important  events  cluster  about  this  period, 

viz.  :  Rome  was  founded  in  753  ;  the  Era  of  Nabonassar  in  Babylon  began    . 

747;  and  Tiglath-pileser  II.,  the  great  military  king  of  Assyria,  ascended 

the  throne,  745.] 

First  Messenian  War 743-724 

Second  Messenian  War 685-668 

Draco 624 

Solon 594 

Pisistratns 560 

Battle  of  Marathon 490 

Battles  of  Thermopylae  and  Salamis 480 

"     "   Plattea  and  Mycale 479 

Age  of  Pericles 479-429 

Peloponnesian  War 431-404 

Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand 400 

Battle  of  Leuctra 371 

Demosthenes  delivered  his  First  Philippic  (Oration  against  Philip) .      352 

Battle  of  Chseronea 338 

Alexander  the  Great 336-323 

Battle  of  the  Granicus 334 

"    "    Issua 333 

"    "    Arbela 331 

Oration  of  Demosthenes  on  The  Crown  330 

Battle  of  Ips  us 301 


BAS-KELIEF   OF   THE   NINE    MUSES. 


.THE  PROVINCES 

OF  THE 

ROMAN  EMPIRe7 

at  the  time  of  its  greatest  extent. 

8CAUE  OF-  ENGLISH  MILES 
100  "  500 

On  this  Map  Italia  is  divided  into  the  11  Regions  of  Augustus. 


KussELL  &  STRy."ifiS,6Ng's,  N.y. 


ROME. 


1.    THE    POLITICAL    HISTORY. 

While  Greece  was  winning  its  freedom  on  the  fields  of 
Marathon  and  Plataga,  and  building  up  the  best  civilization 
the  world  had  then  seen  ;  while  Alexander  was  carrying  the 
Grecian  arms  and  culture  over  the  East ;  while  the  Con- 
queror's successors  were  wrangling  over  the  prize  he  had 
won  ;  while  the  Ptolemies  were  transplanting  Grecian 
thought,  but  not  Grecian  freedom,  to  Egyptian  soil  ;-■ 
there  was  slowly  growing  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  a 
city  that  was  to  found  an  empire  wider  than  Alexander's, 
and  molding  Grecian  civilization,  art,  and  literature  into 
new  forms,  preserve  them  long  after  Greece  had  fallen. 

Contrast  between  Greece  and  Italy. — Grecian  history 
extended  from  the  First  Olympiad  (776  b.  c.)  to  the  Roman 
Conquest  (146  b.  c),  a  period  of  six  centuries,  while  its  real 
strength  lasted  only  from  Marathon  to  Chaeronea,  less  than 
a  century  and  a  half;  Roman  history  reached  from  the 
founding  of  the  city  (754  b.  c.)  to  its  downfall  (476  a.  d.), 

Geographical  Quesito7ig.—^ee  maps,  pp.  210  and  255.  Describe  the  Tiber. 
Locate  Rome.  Ostia.  Alba  Longa.  Veil  (Veji).  The  Sabines.  The  Etruscans. 
Where  was  Carthage  ?  New  Carthage  ?  Saguntum  ?  Syracuse  ?  Lake  Trasimenus  ? 
Capua?  Cannae?  Tarentum?  Cisalpine  Gaul  ?  lapygla  (the  "heel  of  Italy"  reaching 
toward  Greece).  Bruttium  (the  "  toe  of  Italy  ").  What  were  the  limits  of  the  empira 
at  the  time  of  its  greatest  extent?  Name  the  principal  countries  which  it  then  In- 
cluded,   Locftte  Alexandria.    Antioch,    Smyrna.    Philippi.    Byzantium. 


204  K  0  M  E  . 

over  twelve  centuries.  The  coast  of  Italy  was  not,  like  that 
of  Greece,  indented  with  deep  bays,  and  hence  the  people 
were  not  originally  seamen  nor  colonists.  Greece,  cut  up 
into  small  valleys,  offered  no  unity ;  it  grew  around  many 
little  centers,  and  no  two  leaves  on  its  tree  of  liberty  were 
exactly  alike.  But  Italy  exhibited  the  unbroken  advance  of 
one  imperial  city  to  universal  dominion.  In  Greece,  there 
were  the  fickleness  and  jealousies  of  petty  states  ;  in  Italy, 
the  power  and  resources  of  a  mighty  nation.  Greece  lay 
open  to  the  East ;  she  originally  drew  her  inspiration  thence, 
and  in  time  returned  thither  the  fruits  of  her  civilization. 
Italy  lay  open  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  sent  the  strength 
of  her  civilization  to  regenerate  barbarian  Europe.  The 
work  of  the  Greek  seems  to  have  been  to  exhibit  the  triumphs 
of  the  mind,  and  to  illustrate  the  principles  of  liberty  ;  that 
of  Eome,  to  subdue  by  irresistible  force,  to  manifest  the 
power  of  law,  and  to  bind  the  nations  together  for  the  com- 
ing of  a  new  religion.  When  Greece  fell  from  her  high 
estate,  she  left  nothing  but  her  history,  and  the  achievements 
of  her  artists  and  statesmen.  When  the  Roman  Empire 
broke  to  pieces,  the  great  nations  of  Europe  sprang  from  the 
ruins,  and  their  languages,  civilization,  laws,  and  religion 
took  their  form  from  the  Mistress  of  the  World. 

The  Early  Inhabitants  of  Italy  were  mainly  of  the 
same  Aryan  swarm  that  settled  Greece.  But  they  had  be- 
come very  different  from  the  Hellenes,  and  had  split  into 
various  hostile  tribes.  Between  the  Arno  and  the  Tiber 
lived  the  Etruscans  or  Tuscans — a  league  of  twelve  cities. 
These  people  were  great  builders,  and  skilled  in  the  arts. 
In  northern  Italy  Cisalpine  Gaul  was  inhabited  by  Celts, 
akin  to  those  upon  the  other  side  of  the  Alps.  Southern 
Italy  contained  many  prosperous  GreeTc  cities.  The  Italians 
occupied  central  Italy.    They  were  divided  into  the  Latins 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY. 


205 


and   Oscans.      The  former  comprised  a  league  of   thirty 
towns  (note,  p.  117)  south  of  the  Tiber ;  the  latter  consisted 
of  various  tribes  living  eastward — Samnites,  Sabines,  etc.* 
Rome  was  founded  f  (754  b.c.)  by  the  Latins,  perhaps 


Am>, 


*  Some  authorities  group  the  Samnites,  Sabines,  Umbri.ins,  Oscans,  Sabellians, 
etc.,  as  the  Umbriam ;  and  others  call  them  the  Umbro- Sabellians.  They  were 
doubtless  closely  related. 

t  Of  the  early  history  op  Home  there  is  no  reliable  account,  as  the  records 
were  burned  when  the  city  was  destroyed  by  the  Gauls  (390  b.  c),  and  it  was  five 
hundred  years  after  the  founding  of  the  city  (A.  U.  C,  anno  urbis  conditce)  before  the 
first  rude  attempt  was  made  to  write  a  continuous  narrative  of  its  origin.  The  names 
of  the  early  monarchs  are  probably  personifications,  rather  than  the  appellations  of 
real  persons.  The  word  Rome  itself  means  border,  and  probably  had  no  relation  to 
the  fabled  Romulus.  The  history  which  was  accepted  in  later  times  by  the  Romans 
and  has  come  down  to  us  is  a  series  of  beautiful  legends.  In  the  text  is  given  the 
real  history  as  now  received  by  the  best  critics,  and  in  the  notes  the  mythical  stories. 

.^NEAs,  favored  by  the   god  ^     ^  ^__^' 

Mercury  and  led  by  his  mother 
Venus,  cjime,  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Troy,  to  Italy.  There  his 
son  Ascanius  built  the  Long 
White  City  (Alba  Longa).  His 
descendants  reigned  in  peace  for 
three  hundred  years.  When  it 
came  time,  according  to  the  de- 
cree of  the  gods,  that  Rome 
should  be  founded, 

Romulus  and  Remus  were 
born.  Their  mother,  Rhea  Silvia, 
was  a  priestess  of  the  goddess 
Vesta,  and  their  father.  Mars,  the 
god  of  war.  Amulius,  who  had 
usurped  the  Alban  throne  from 
their  grandfather  Nnmitor,  or- 
dered the  babes  to  be  thrown 
into  the  Tiber.  They  were,  how- 
ever, cast  ashore  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Palatine.  Here  they  were 
nursed  by  a  wolf.  One  Faustulus 
passing  near  was  struck  by  the 
sight,  and  carrying  the  children 
home  brought  them  up  as  his 
own.  Romulus  and  Remus  on 
coming  to  age  discovered  their 
true  rank,  slew  the  usurper,  and  restored  their  grandfather  Numitor  to  his  throne. 

Founding  op  Rome.— The  brothers  then  determined  to  found  a  city  near  the  spot 
where  they  had  been  so  wonderfully  preserved,  and  agreed  to  watch  the  flight  of 
birds  in  order  to  decide  which  should  fix  upon  the  site.  Remus,  on  the  Aventine 
hill,  saw  six  vultures  ;  but  Romulus,  on  the  Palatine,  saw  twelve,  and  was  declared 
victor.  He  accordingly  began  to  mark  out  the  boundaries  with  a  brazen  plough, 
drawn  by  a  bullock  and  a  heifer,    As  th$  mud  wall  arose,  Remus  in  scorn  jumped 


.UlHWHIliffllTilllltlitiTlfl 


ROMAN   WOLF  STATUE. 


206 


KOME, 


a  colony  sent  out  from  Alba  Longa,  as  an  outpost  against 
the  Etruscans,  whom  they  greatly  feared.  At  an  early  date 
it  contained  about  one  thousand  miserable,  thatched  huts, 
surrounded  by  a  wall.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  were  shep- 
herds or  farmers,  who  tilled  the  land  upon  the  plain  near 
by,  but  lived  for  protection  within  their  fortifications  on 
the  Palatine  Hill.  It  is  probable  that  the  hills  afterward 
covered  by  Rome  were  then  occupied  by  Latins,  and  that 
the  cities  of  Latium  formed  a  confederacy,  with  Alba  Longa 
at  the  head. 


over  it.  Whereupon  Romulus  slew  him,  exclaiming,  "  So  perish  every  one  who  may 
try  to  leap  over  these  ramparts  !  "  The  new  city  he  called  Rome  after  his  own  name, 
and  hecame  its  first  king.  To  secure  inhabitants,  he  opened  an  asylum  for  refugees 
and  criminals.  But  lacking  women,  he  resorted  to  a  curious  expedient.  A  great 
festival  in  honor  of  Neptune  was  appointed,  and  the  neighboring  people  were  invited 
to  come  with  their  families.  In  the  midst  of  the  games  the  young  Romans  rushed 
among  the  spectators,  and  each  seizing  a  maiden,  carried  her  off  to  be  his  wife.  The 
indignant  parents  returned  home,  but  only  to  come  back  in  arms,  and  thirsting  for 
vengeance.  The  Sabines  laid  siege  to  the  citadel  on  the  Capitoline  hill.  Tarpeia, 
the  commandant's  daughter,  dazzled  by  the  glitter  of  their  golden  bracelets  and 

rings,  promised  to  betray  the 
fortress  if  the  Sabines  would 
give  her  "  what  they  wore  on 
their  left  arms."  As  they 
passed  in  through  the  gate, 
which  she  opened  for  them 
in  the  night,  they  crushed  her 
beneath  their  heavy  shields. 
Henceforth  that  part  of  the 
hill  was  called  the  Tarpeiau 
Kock,  and  down  its  precipice 
traitors  were  hurled  to  death. 
The  next  day  after  Tarpeia's 
treachery,  the  battle  raged  in 
the  valley  between  the  Capi- 
toline and  Palatine  hills.  In 
his  distress,  Romulus  vowed 
a  temple  to  Jupiter.  The  Ro- 
mans thereupon  turned  and 
drove  back  their  foes.  In  the 
flight,  Mettius  Curtius,  the 
leader  of  the  Sabines,  sank 
with  his  horse  into  a  marsh, 
and  nearly  perished.  Ere  the  contest  could  be  renewed,  the  Sabine  women,  with 
disheveled  hair,  suddenly  rushed  between  their  kindred  and  new-found  husbands, 
and  implored  peace.  Their  entreaties  prevailed,  the  two  people  united,  and  their 
kmgs  reigned  jointly.  As  the  Sabines  came  from  Cures,  the  united  people  wer« 
called  Romans  and  Q;uirit€S. 


THE   TARPEIAN    ROCK   (FROM    AN    OLD    PRINT). 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY, 


m 


The  Government  was  aristocratic.  There  were  a  priest- 
king,  a  senate,  and  an  assembly.  The  priest-king  offered 
sacrifices,  and  presided  over  the  senate.  The  senate  had  the 
right  to  discuss,  and  vote  ;  the  assembly,  to  discuss  only. 
Each  original  family  or  house  (gons)  was  represented  in 
the  senate  by  its  head.  This  body  was  therefore  composed 
of  the  fathers  {patres),  and  was  from  the  beginning  the 
soul  of  the  rising  city ;  while  throughout  its  entire  history 
the  intelligence,  experience,  and  wisdom  gathered  in  the 
senate,  determined  the  policy  and  shaped  the  public  life 

Romulus,  after  the  death  of  Tatius,  became  sole  king.  He  divided  the  people  into 
nobles  and  commons ;  the  former  he  called  patricians,  and  the  latter  plebeians.  The 
patricians  were  separated  into  three  tribes— i?a/wn.es,  Tities,  and  Luceres.  In  each  of 
these  he  made  ten  divisions  or  cuHoe.  The  thirty  curise  formed  the  assembly  of  the 
people.  The  plebeians  being  apportioned  as  tenants  and  dependents  among  the 
patricians,  were  called  clients.  One  hundred  of  the  patricians  were  chose;*  for  age  and 
wisdom,  and  sijledifatfiers  (patres).  After  Romulus  had  reigned  thirty-seven  years, 
and  done  all  these  things  according  to  the  will  of  the  gods,  one  day,  during  a  violent 
thunder-storm,  he  disappeared  from  sight,  and  was  henceforth  worshipped  as  a  god. 

NcTMA  PoMPiiiius,  a  pious  Sabine,  was  the  second  king.  Numa  was  wise  from 
his  youth,  as  a  sign  of  which  his  hair  was  gray  at  birth.  He  was  trained  by  Pythag- 
oras (p.  174)  in  all  the  knowledge  of  the  Greeks  ; 
and  was  wont,  in  a  sacred  grove  near  Rome,  to 
meet  the  nymph  Egeria,  who  taught  him  lessons 
of  wisdom,  and  how  men  below  should  worship 
the  gods  above.  By  pouring  wine  into  the  spring 
whence  Faunus  and  Picus,  the  gods  of  the  wood, 
drank,  he  led  them  to  tell  him  the  secret  charm 
to  gain  the  will  of  Jupiter.  Peace  smiled  on  the 
land  during  his  happy  reign,  and  the  doors  of  the 
temple  of  Janus  remained  closed. 

TuLLTJ^  HosTiLius,  the  third  king,  loved  war 
as  Numa  did  peace.  He  soon  got  into  a  quarrel 
with  Alba  Longa.  As  the  armies  were  about  to 
fight,  it  was  agreed  to  decide  the  contest  by  a 
combat  between  the  Horatii— three  brothers  in 
the  Roman  ranks,  and  the  Curatii— three  brothers 
in  the  Alban.  They  were  cousins,  and  one  of  the 
Curatii  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  a  sister  of  one  of  the  Horatii.  In  the  fight, 
two  of  the  Horacii  were  killed,  when  the  third  pretended  to  run.  The  Curatii,  be- 
cause of  their  wounds,  followed  him  slowly,  and  becoming  separated,  he  turned 
about  and  slew  them  one  by  one.  As  the  victor  returned  laden  with  the  spoils,  he 
met  his  sister,  who.  catching  sight  of  the  robe  which  she  had  embroidered  for  her 
lover,  burst  into  tears.  Horatius,  unable  to  bear  her  reproaches,  struck  her  dead, 
saying,  "  So  perish  any  Roman  woman  who  laments  a  foe !  "  The  murderer  was  con- 
demned to  die,  but  the  people  spared  him  because  his  valor  had  saved  Rome.  Alba 
submitted,  but  the  inhabitants  proving  treacherous,  the  city  was  razed,  and  the  people 
were  taken  to  Rome  and  located  on  the  Coelian  hill.    The  Albans  and  the  Romans 


TEMPLE   OF   JANUS. 


208 


ROME. 


that  made  Kome  the  Mistress  of  the  World.  The  assembly 
{comitia  curiata)  consisted  of  the  males  belonging  to  these 
ancient  families.  The  members  voted  in  ten  bodies  {cur ice), 
each  containing  the  nobles  of  ten  houses  (gentes). 

Sabine  Invasion  and  League. — The  Sabines,  coming 
down  the  valley  of  the  Tiber,  captured  the  Capitoline  and 
Quirinal  hills.  There  were  frequent  conflicts  between  these 
near  neighbors,  but  they  soon  came  into  an  alliance.  Finally, 
the  two  tribes  formed  one  city,  and  the  people  were  there- 
after known  as  Romans  and  Quirites.     Both  had  seats  in 

now  became  one  nation  as  the  Sabines  and  the  Romans  had  become  in  the  days  of 

Romulns.    In  his  old  age  Tullus  sought  to  find  out  the  will  of  Jupiter,  using  the  spells 

of  Numa,  but  angry  Jove  struck  him  with  a  thunderbolt. 

Angus  Mabcius,  the  grandson  of  Numa,  conquered  many  Latin  cities,  and, 
bringing  the  inhabitants  to  Rome,  gave  them  homes  on 
the  Aventine  hill.  He  wrote  Numa's  laws  on  a  white 
board  in  the  Forum,  built  a  bridge  over  the  Tiber,  and 
erected  the  Mamertine  prison,  the  first  in  the  city. 

TARQxnNius  Pbisous,  the  fifth  king,  was  an  Etruscan, 
who  came  to  Rome  during  the  reign  of  Ancus.  As  he 
approached  the  city,  an  eagle  flew  circling  above  his 
head,  seized  his  cap,  rose  high  in  air,  and  then  returning 
replaced  it.  His  wife,  Tanaquil,  being  learned  in  augury, 
foretold  that  he  was  coming  to  distinguished  honor.  Her 
prediction  proved  true,  for  he  greatly  pleased  Ancus, 
who  named  him  as  his  successor  in  place  of  his  own 
children.  The  people  ratified  the  choice,  and  the  event 
proved  its  wisdom.  Tarquin  built  the  famous  Drain 
(cloaca),  which  still  remains  with  scarce  a  stone  dis- 
placed. He  planned  the  Great  Race-Course  (Circus 
Maximus),  and  its  games.  He  conquered  Etruria,  and 
the  Etruscans  sent  him  "  a  golden  crown,  a«ceptre,  an 
ivory  chair,  a  purple  toga,  an  embroidered  tunic,  and  an 
axe  tied  in  a  bundle  of  rods."  So  the  Romans  adopted 
these  emblems  of  royal  power  as  signs  of  their  do- 
minion. 

Now  there  was  a  boy  named  Servius  TuUius  brought 
up  in  the  palace,  who  was  a  favorite  of  the  king.  One 
day  while  the  child  was  asleep  lambent  flames  were  seen 
playing  about  his  head.  Tanaquil  foresaw  from  this 
that  he  was  destined  to  great  things.  He  was  hence- 
forth in  high  favor ;  he  married  the  king's  daughter, 
and  became  his  counsellor.  The  sons  of  Ancus  fearing 
lest  Servius  should  succeed  to  the  throne,  and  being 
wroth  with  Tarquin  because  of  the  loss  of  their  paternal 
inheritance,  assassinated  the  king.  But  Tanaquil  re- 
ported that  Tarquin  was  only  wounded,  and  wished  that 

Servius  might  govern  until  he  recovered.    When  the  deception  was  found  out, 


ROMAN   FASCES. 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  209 

the  senate,  and  the  king  was  taken  alternately  from  each. 
This  was  henceforth  the  mode  of  Rome's  growth ;  she  ad- 
mitted her  allies  and  conquered  enemies  to  citizenship,  thus 
adding  their  strength  to  her  own,  and  making  her  victories 
their  victories. 

Alba  Longa,  the  chief  town  of  the  Latin  league  and  the 
mother-city  of  Rome,  was  herself,  after  a  time,  destroyed, 
and  the  inhabitants  were  transferred  to  Rome.  The  Alban 
nobles,  now  perhaps  called  Luceres,  with  the  Sabines  (Titles), 
already  joined  to  the  original  Romans  (Ramnes),  made  the 

Sebyius  was  firmly  fixed  in  his  seat.  He  made  a  league  with  the  Latins,  and,  as 
a  sign  of  the  union,  built  to  Diana  a  temple  on  the  Aventine,  where  both  peoples 
offered  annual  sacrifices  for  Rome  and  Latium.  He  enlarged  Rome,  enclosing  the 
seven  hills  with  a  stone  wall ;  and  divided  the  city  into  four  parts— called  tribes,  after 
the  old  division  of  the  people  as  instituted  by  Romulus— and  all  the  land  about  into 
twenty-six  districts.  The  son  of  a  bond-maid,  Servius  favored  the  common  people. 
This  was  shown  in  his  separation  of  all  the  Romans— patricians  and  plebeians— into 
five  classes,  according  to  their  wealth.  These  classes  were  subdivided  into  centuries, 
and  they  were  to  assemble  in  this  military  order  when  the  king  wished  to  consult 
concerning  peace  or  war,  or  laws.  In  the  centuriate  assembly  the  richest  citizens 
had  the  chief  influence,  for  they  formed  eighty  centuries,  and  the  knights  (eguites) 
eighteen  centuries,  each  having  a  vote  ;  while  fewer  votes  were  given  to  the  lower 
classes.  But  this  arrangement  was  not  unjust,  since  the  wealthy  were  to  provide 
themselves  with  heavy  armor,  and  fight  in  the  front  rank  ;  while  the  poorest  citizens, 
who  formed  but  one  century,  \vere  exempt  from  military  service. 

The  two  daughters  of  Ser-vius  were  married  to  the  two  sons  of  Tarquinius  the 
Elder.  The  couples  were  il!y-matched,  in  each  case  the  good  and  gentle  being  mated 
with  the  cruel  and  haughty.  Finally,  Tullia  murdered  her  husband,  and  Lucius 
killed  his  wife,  and  t^ese  two  partners  in  crime  and  of  like  evil  instincts,  were  mar- 
ried. Lucius  now  conspired  with  the  nobles  against  the  king.  His  plans  being  ripe, 
one  day  he  went  into  the  senate  and  sat  down  on  the  throne.  Servius  hearing  the 
tumult  which  arose,  hastened  hither.  Whereupon  Lucius  hurled  the  king  headlong 
down  the  steps.  As  the  old  man  was  tottering  homeward  the  usurper's  attendants 
followed  and  murdered  him,  Tullia  hastened  to  the  senate  to  salute  her  husband  as 
king.  But  he,  somewhat  less  brutal  than  she,  ordered  her  back.  While  returning, 
her  driver  came  to  the  prostrate  body  of  the  king  and  was  about  to  turn  aside,  when 
she  fiercely  bade  him  "  Go  forward  !  "  The  blood  of  her  father  spattered  her  dress 
as  the  chariot  rolled  over  his  lifeless  remains.  The  place  took  its  name  from  this 
horrid  deed ,  and  was  henceforth  known  as  the  Wicked  Street. 

Lucius  Tarquinius,  who  thus  became  the  seventh  and  last  king,  was  sumamed 
Superbus  (the  Proud).  He  erected  massive  edifices,  compelling  the  workmen  to  re- 
ceive such  pitiable  wages  that  many  in  despair  committed  suicide.  In  digging  the 
foundations  of  a  temple  to  Jupiter,  a  bleeding  hand  (caput)  was  discovered.  This  the 
king  took  to  be  an  omen  that  the  city  was  to  become  the  head  of  the  world,  and  so  gave 
the  name  Capitoline  to  the  temple,  and  the  hill  on  which  it  stood.  In  the  vaults  of 
this  temple  weje  deposited  the  Sibylline  books,  concerning  which  a  singular  story  was 
told.  One  day  a  sibyl  from  CumaB  came  to  the  king,  offering  to  sell  him  for  a  fabulous 
sum  nine  books  of  prophecies.    Tarquin  declined  to  buy.    Whereupon  she  burned 


ftUSS£LL  <&  STRiJTHERS,  ENU'S,  N.' 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTOBY.  211 

number  of  tribes  three ;  of  curiae,  thirty  ;  and  of  houses, 
(probably)  three  hundred. 

Etruscan  Conquest. — The  rising  city  was,  in  its  turn, 
conquered  by  the  Etruscans,  who  placed  the  Tarquins  on 
the  throne.  This  foreign  dynasty  were  builders  as  well  as 
warriors.  They  adorned  Kome  with  elegant  edifices  of 
Etruscan  architecture.  They  added  the  adjacent  heights  to 
the  growing  capital,  and  extended  around  the  **  seven-hilled 
city"  a  stone  wall,  which  lasted  eight  centuries.  Eome, 
within  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  her  founding,  be- 
came the  head  of  Latium. 

three  of  the  books,  and  demanded  the  same  price  for  the  remaining  six.  Tarquin 
laughed,  thinking  her  mad.  But  when  she  burned  three  more,  and  still  asked  the 
original  amount  for  the  other  volumes,  the  king  began  to  reflect,  and  finally  bought 
the  books.  They  were  thereafter  jealously  guarded,  and  consulted  in  all  great  state 
emergencies. 

The  Latin  town  of  Gabii  was  taken  by  a  stratagem.  Sextus,  the  son  of  Tarquin, 
pretending  to  have  fled  from  his  father's  ill-usage,  took  refuge  in  that  city. 
Having  secured  the  confidence  of  the  people,  he  secretly  sent  to  his  father,  asking 
advice.  Tarquin  merely  took  the  messenger  into  his  garden,  and  walking  to  and  fro, 
knocked  oif  with  his  cane  the  tallest  poppies.  Sextus  read  his  father's  meaning,  and 
managed  to  get  rid  of  the  chief  men  of  Gabii,  when  it  was  easy  to  give  up  the  place 
to  the  Romans. 

Tarquin  was  greatly  troubled  by  a  strange  omen,  a  serpent  having  eaten  the  sacri- 
fice on  the  royal  altar.  The  two  sons  of  the  king  were  accordingly  sent  to  consult 
the  oracle  at  Delphi.  They  were  accompanied  by  their  cousin  Junius,  called  Brutus 
because  of  his  silliness,  which  however  was  only  assumed,  through  fear  of  the  tyrant 
who  had  already  killed  his  brother.  The  king's  sons  made  the  Delphic  god  costly 
presents ;  Brutus  brought  only  a  simple  staff,  but,  unknown  to  the  rest,  this  was 
hollow  and  filled  with  gold.  Having  executed  their  commission,  the  young  men 
asked  the  priestess  which  of  them  should  be  king.  The  reply  was,  *'  The  one  who 
first  kisses  his  mother."  On  reaching  Italy,  Brutus  pretending  to  fall,  kissed  the 
ground,  the  common  mother  of  us  all. 

As  the  royal  princes  and  Tarquinius  Collatinus  were  one  day  feasting  in  the  camp, 
a  dispute  arose  concerning  the  mdustry  of  their  wives.  To  decide  it  they  at  once 
hastened  homeward  through  the  darkness.  They  found  the  king's  daughters  at  a 
festival,  while  Lucretia,  the  wife  of  Collatinus,  was  in  the  midst  of  her  slaves,  distaff 
in  hand.  Collatinus  was  exultant ;  but  soon  after  Lucretia,  stung  by  the  insults 
she  received  from  Sextus,  killed  herself,  calling  upon  her  friends  to  avenge  her 
fate.  Brutus,  casting  off  the  mask  of  madness,  drew  forth  the  dagger  she  used,  and 
vowed  to  kill  Sextus  and  expel  the  detested  race.  The  oath  was  repeated  as  the  red 
blade  passed  from  hand  to  'aand.  The  people  rose  in  indignation,  and  drove  the 
Tarquins  from  the  city.  Henceforth  the  Romans  hated  the  very  name  of  king.  Rome 
now  became  a  free  city  after  it  had  been  governed  by  kings  for  two  hundred  and  forty- 
five  years.  The  people  chose  for  rulers  two  consuls,  elected  yearly  ;  and  to  offer 
sacrifices  in  place  of  the  king,  they  selected  a  priest  who  should  have  no  power  in  the 
state. 


^12  EOME. 

Tlie  Tar  quins  were  the  friends  of  the  common  people 
(plels),  who  already  began  to  be  illy-treated  by  the  nobles. 
In  order  to  help  the  plebs,  Servius  divided  all  the  Romans 
into  five  classes  according  to  their  property,  and  these  again 
into  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  centuries  or  companies. 
The  people  were  directed  to  assemble  by  centuries  (comitia 
centuriatu),  either  to  fight  or  to  vote.  This  body,  in  fact, 
constituted  an  army,  and  was  called  together  on  the  field  of 
Mars  by  the  blast  of  the  trumpet.  To  the  new  centuriate 
assembly  was  given  the  right  of  selecting  the  king  and 
enacting  the  laws.     The  king  was  deprived  of  his  power  as 

Brutus  and  Collatinus  were  the  first  consuls.  Soon  after  this  the  two  sons  of 
Brutus  plotted  to  bring  Tarquin  back.  Their  father  was  sitting  on  the  judgment-seat 
when  they  were  brought  in  for  trial.  The  stern  old  Roman,  true  to  duty,  sentenced 
both  to  death  as  traitors. 

Tarquin  now  induced  the  Etruscans  of  the  towns  of  Veil  and  Tarquinii  to  aid 
him,  and  they  accordingly  marched  toward  Rome.  The  Romans  went  forth  to  meet 
them.  As  the  two  armies  drew  near,  Aruns,  son  of  Tarquin,  catching  sight  of  Brutus, 
rushed  forward,  and  the  two  enemies  fell  dead  pierced  by-each  other's  spears.  Night 
alone  checked  the  terrible  contest  which  ensued.  During  the  darkness  the  voice  of 
the  god  Silvanus  was  heard  in  the  woods,  saying  that  Rome  had  beaten  since  the 
Etruscans  had  lost  one  man  more  than  the  Romans.  The  Etruscans  fled  in  dismay. 
The  matrons  of  Rome  mourned  Brutus  for  a  whole  year  because  he  had  so  bravely 
avenged  the  wrongs  of  Lucretia. 

Next  came  a  powerful  army  of  Etruscans  under  Porsenna,  king  of  OJusium.  He 
captured  Janiculum  (a  hill  just  across  the  Tiber),  and  would  have  forced  his  way  into 
the  city  with  the  fleeing  Romans  had  not  Horatius  Codes,  with  two  brave  men,  held 
the  bridge  while  it  was  cut  down  behind  them.  As  the  timbers  tottered,  his  com- 
panions rushed  across.  But  he  kept  the  enemy  at  bay  until  the  shouts  of  the  Romans 
told  him  the  bridge  was  gone,  when,  with  a  prayer  to  father  Tiber,  he  leaped  into  the 
stream,  and,  amid  a  shower  of  arrows,  swam  safely  to  the  bank.  The  people  never 
tired  of  praising  this  hero.  They  erected  a  statue  in  his  honor,  and  gave  him  as 
much  land  as  he  could  plow  in  a  day. 

'  And  still  his  name  sounds  stirring 
Unto  the  men  of  Rome, 
As  the  trumpet-blast  that  cries  to  them 

To  charge  the  Volscian  home. 
And  wives  still  pray  to  Juno 

For  boys  with  hearts  as  bold 
As  his  who  kept  the  bridge  so  well 
In  the  brave  days  of  old." 

— Macaulay's  Lays. 

Porsenna  now  laid  siege  to  the  city.  Then  Mucins,  a  young  noble,  went  to  the 
Etruscan  camp  to  kill  Porsenna.  By  mistake  he  slew  the  treasurer.  Being  dragged 
before  the  king  and  threatened  with  death  if  he  did  not  confess  his  accomplices,  he 
thrust  his  right  hand  into  an  altar-fire,  and  held  it  there  until  it  was  burned  to  a 


509B.C.] 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  213 


priest,  this  office  being  conferred  on  the  chief  pontiff.  The 
higher  classes,  aggrieved  by  these  changes,  at  last  combined 
with  other  Latin  cities  to  expel  their  Etruscan  rulers.  Kings 
now  came  to  an  end  at  Rome.  This  was  in  509  b.  c. — a  year 
after  Hippias  was  driven  out  of  Athens  (p.  124). 

The  Republic  was  then  established.  Two  chief  magis- 
trates, consuls  (at  first  called  praetors),  Avere  chosen,  it  being 
thought  that  if  one  turned  out  badly  the  other  would  check 
him.  The  constitution  of  Servius  was  adopted,  and  the 
senate,  which  had  dwindled  in  size,  was  restored  to  its  ideal 
number,  three  hundred,  by  the  addition  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty-four  life-members  {conscripti)  chosen  from  the  richest 
of  the  knights  {equites),  several  of  these  being  plebeians. 

The  Struggle  between  the  Patricians  and  the 
Plebeians  was  the  characteristic  of  the  first  two  hundred 
years  of  the  republic.  The  patricians  were  the  descendants 
of  the  first  settlers.  They  were  rich,  proud,  exclusive, 
and  demanded  all  the  offices  of  the  government.  Each 
of  these  nobles  was  supported  by  a  powerful  body  of  clients 
or  dependants.  The  plebeians  were  the  newer  famihes. 
They  were  generally  poor,  forbidden  the  rights  of  citizens, 

crisp.  Porsenna,  amazed  at  his  firmness,  gavp  him  his  liberty.  Mucius  thereupon 
told  the  king  that  three  hundred  Roman  youths  had  sworn  to  accomplish  his  death. 
Porsenna,  alarmed  for  his  life,  made  peace  with  Rome.  Among  the  hostages  given 
by  Rome  was  Cloelia,  a  noble  maiden,  who,  escaping  from  the  Etruscan  camp,  swam 
the  Tiber.  The  Romans  sent  her  back,  but  Porsenna,  admiring  her  courage,  set  her 
free. 

Tarquin  next  secured  a  league  of  thirty  Latin  cities  to  aid  in  his  restoration.  In 
this  emergency  the  Romans  appointed  a  dictator^  who  should  possess  absolute  power 
for  six  months.  A  great  battle  was  fought  at  Lake  Regi'lus.  Like  most  ancient  con- 
tests, it  began  with  a  series  of  single  encounters.  First,  Tarquin  and  the  Roman 
dictator  fought.  Then,  the  Latin  dictator  and  the  Roman  master  of  horse.  Finally, 
the  main  armies  came  to  blows.  The  Romans  being  worsted,  their  dictator  vowed  a 
temple  to  Castor  and  Pollux.  Suddenly  the  Twin  Brethren,  taller  and  fairer  than 
men,  on  enow-white  horses  and  clad  in  rare  armor,  were  seen  fighting  at  his  side. 
Everywhere  the  Latins  broke  and  fled  before  them.  Tarquin  gave  up  his  attempt  in 
despair.  That  night  two  riders,  their  horses  wet  with  foam  and  blood,  rode  up  to  a 
fountain  before  the  temple  of  Vesta  at  Rome,  and.  as  they  washed  off  in  the  cool 
water  the  traces  of  the  battle,  told  how  a  great  victory  had  been  won  over  the  Latin 
host.    (See  Steele's  Astronomy^  p.  250.) 


214  ROME.  [494B.C. 

and  not  allowed  to  intermarry  with  the  patricians.  Obliged 
to  serve  in  the  army  without  pay,  during  their  absence  their 
farms  remained  untilled,  and  were  often  ravaged  by  the 
enemy.  Forced,  when  they  returned  from  war,  to  borrow 
money  of  the  patricians  for  seed,  tools,  and  food,  if  they 
failed  in  their  payments  they  could  be  sold  as  slaves,  or  cut 
in  pieces  for  distribution  among  their  creditors.  The  prisons 
connected  with  the  houses  of  the  great  patricians  were  full 
of  plebeian  debtors. 

Secession  to  Mons  Sacer. — Tribunes  (494  b.c.). — 
The  condition  of  the  plebs  became  so  unbearable  that  they 
finally  marched  off  in  a  body  and  encamped  on  the  Sacred 
Mount,  where  they  determined  to  build  a  new  city,  and  let 
the  patricians  have  the  old  •  one  for  themselves.  The 
patricians,*  in  alarm,  settled  the  difficulty  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  tribunes  of  the  people,  whose  persons  were  to  be 
sacred,  and  whose  houses,  standing  open  day  and  night, 
were  to  be  places  of  refuge.  To  these  new  officers  was  after- 
ward given  the  power  of  veto  (I  forbid)  over  any  law  passed 
by  the  senate  and  considered  injurious  to  the  plebs.  Such 
was  the  exclusiveness  of  the  senate,  however,  that  the  trib- 
unes could  not  enter  the  senate-house,  but  were  obliged  to 
remain  outside,  and  shout*  the  ''veto"  through  the  open 
door. 

There  were  now  two  distinct  peoples  in  Rome,  each  with 
its  own  interests  and  officers.  This  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
fact  that  the  agreement  made  on  Mons  Sacer  was  concluded 
in  the  form  of  an  international  treaty,  with  the  usual  oaths 
and  sacrifices ;  and  that  the  magistrates  of  the  plebs  were 

*  Old  Menenius  Agrippa  produced  a  great  effect  upon  the  plebeians  by  telling  them 
the  following  fable :  Once  upon  a  time  the  various  organs  of  the  body  becoming  tired 
of  supporting  the  stomach  in  idleness,  "  struck  work."  The  legs  stopped  ;  the  hands 
would  not  carry  ;  and  the  teeth  would  not  chew.  But  after  a  little  they  all  began  to 
fail  for  lack  of  food,  and  then  they  found  how  much  they  depended  on  the  stomach, 
in  spite  of  its  apparent  laziness. 


494  B.C.] 


THE     POLITICAL    HISTORY. 


215 


ROMAN   PLEBEIANS. 


declared  to  be  inviolate, 
like  the  ambassadors  of 
a  foreign  power. 

The  three  popular 
assemblies  which  ex- 
isted in  Rome,  with 
their  peculiar  organiza- 
tion and  powers,  mark- 
ed as  many  stages  of 
constitutional  growth 
in  the  state. 

The  assembly  of  curies 
(comitia  curiata),  the 
oldest  and  long  the 
only  one,  was  based  on 
the  patrician  separation 

into  tribes  (Kamnes,  Titles,  and  Luceres).  No  plebeian  had 
a  voice  in  this  gathering,  and  it  early  lost  its  influence  and 
became  a  relic  of  the  past.  The  assembly  of  centuries 
(comitia  centuriata)  came  in  with  the  Etruscan  kings,  and 
was  essentially  a  military  organization.  Based  on  classes  of 
the  entire  population,  it  gave  the  plebeians  their  first  voice, 
though  a  weak  one,  in  public  affairs.  The  assembly  of  the 
tribes  (comitia  tributa),  introduced  with  the  rising  of  the 
plebs,  was  based  on  the  new  separation  into  tribes,  ^.  e., 
wards  and  districts.  The  patricians  were  liere  excluded  as 
the  plebeians  had  been  at  first ;  and  Rome,  which  began 
with  a  purely  aristocratic  assembly,  had  now  a  purely  demo- 
cratic one. 

The  original  number  of  the  local  tribes  was  twenty 
in  all  —  four  city  wards  and  sixteen  country  districts. 
With  the  growth  of  the  republic  and  the  acquisition  of  new 
territory,  the  number  was  increased  to  thirty-five  (241  B.  c). 


^16  ROME.  [486B.C. 

The  Roman  citizens  were  theti  so  numerous  and  so  scattered 
that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  meet  at  Rome  to  elect 
officers  and  make  laws  ;  but  still  the  organization  was  kept 
up  till  the  end  of  the  republic. 

An  Agrarian  Law  {ager,  a  field)  was  the  next  measure 
of  relief  granted  to  the  common  people.  It  was  customary 
for  the  Romans  when  they  conquered  a  territory  to  leave  the 
owners  a  part  of  the  land,  and  to  take  the  rest  for  them- 
selyes.  Though  this  became  public  property,  the  patricians 
used  it  as  their  own.  The  plebeians,  who  bore  the  brunt  of 
the  fighting,  naturally  thought  they  had  the  best  claim  to 
the  spoils  of  war,  and  with  the  assertion  of  their  civil  rights 
came  now  a  claim  for  the  rights  of  property.* 

Spurius  Cassius  \  (486  b.  c),  though  himself  a  patrician, 
secured  a  law  ordaining  that  part  of  the  public  lands  should 
be  divided  among  the  poor  plebeians,  and  the  patricians 
should  pay  rent  for  the  rest.  But  the  patricians  were  so 
strong  that  they  made  the  law  a  dead  letter,  and  finally, 
on  the  charge  of  wishing  to  be  king,  put  Spurius  to  death, 
and  leveled  his  house  to  the  ground.  The  agitation,  how- 
ever, still  continued. 

The  Decemvirs  (451  b.  c). — The  tribunes,  through 
ignorance  of  the  laws,  which  were  jealously  guarded  as  the 
exclusive  property  of  the  patricians,  were  often  thwarted 
in  their  measures  to  aid  the  common  people.  The  plebs 
of  Rome,  therefore,  like  the  common  people  of  Athens 
nearly  two  hundred  years  before  (p.  121),  demanded  that 
the  laws  should  be  made  public.  After  a  long  struggle 
the  senate  yielded.     Ten  men  {decemvirs)  were  appointed 

*  Property  at  that  early  date  consisted  almost  entirely  of  land  and  cattle.  The 
Latin  word  for  money,  pecunia  (cattle),  indicates  this  ancient  identity. 

t  Spurius  was  the  author  of  the  famous  League  of  the  Romans,  Latins,  and  Her- 
nicans,  by  means  of  which  the  ^quians  and  Volscians  were  lono:  held  in  check. 
The  men  of  the  Latin  League  fought  side  by  side  until  after  the  Gallic  invasion. 


451  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  217 

to  revise  and  publish  the  laws.  Meanwhile  the  regular 
government  of  consuls  and  tribunes  was  suspended.  The 
decemvirs  did  their  work  well,  and  compiled  ten  tables 
of  laws  that  were  acceptable.  Their  year  of  office  having 
expired,  a  second  body  of  decemvirs  was  chosen  to  write  the 
rest  of  the  laws.  The  senate,  finding  them  favorable  to  the 
plebeians,  forced  the  decemvirs  to  resign ;  introduced  into 
the  two  remaining  tables  regulations  obnoxious  to  the  com- 
mon people;  and  then  endeavored  to  restore  the  consular 
government  without  the  tribuneship.  The  plebs  a  second 
time  seceded  to  the  Sacred  Mount,  and  the  senate  was  forced 
to  reinstate  tiie  tribunes.* 

The  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  remained  as  the 
grand  result  of  the  decem viral  legislation.  They  were 
engraved  on  blocks  of  wood  or  ivory,  and  hung  up  in  the 

*  The  accountj  of  this  trani?action  given  in  Livy^s  History  is  doubtless  largely 
legendary.  The  story  runs  as  follows  :  Three  ambassadors  were  appointed  to  visit 
Athens  (this  was  during  the  "  Age  of  Pericles  "),  and  examine  the  laws  of  Solon.  On 
their  return  the  decemvirs  were  chosen.  They  were  to  be  supreme,  and  the  consuls, 
tribunes,  etc.,  resigned.  The  new  rulers  did  admirably  during  one  term,  and  com- 
pleted ten  tables  of  excellent  laws  that  were  adopted  by  the  assembly  of  centuries. 
Decemvirs  were  therefore  chosen  for  a  second  term.  Appius  Claudius  was  the  most 
popular  of  the  first  body  of  decemvirs,  and  the  only  one  re-elected.  Now,  alf  was 
quickly  changed  ;  the  ten  men  became  at  once  odious  tyrants,  and  Appius  Claudius 
chief  of  all.  Each  of  the  decemvirs  was  attended  by  twelve  lictors,  bearing  the 
fasces  with  the  axes  wherever  he  went  in  public.  Two  new  tables  of  oppressive  laws, 
confirming  the  patricians  in  their  iiated  privileges,  were  added  to  the  former  tables. 
When  the  year  expired  the  decemvirs  called  no  new  election,  and  held  their  office  in 
defiance  of  the  senate  and  the  people.  No  man's  life  was  safe,  and  many  leading 
persons  fled  from  Rome.  The  crisis  soon  came.  One  day,  seeing  a  beautiful  maiden, 
the  daughter  of  a  plebeian  named  Virginius,  crossing  the  Forum,  Claudius  resolved 
to  make  her  his  own.  So  he  directed  a  client  to  seize  her  on  the  charge  that  she  was 
the  child  of  one  of  his  slaves,  and  then  to  bring  the  case  before  the  decemvirs  for 
trial.  Claudius,  of  course,  decided  in  favor  of  his  client.  Thereupon  Virginius  drew 
his  daughter  one  side  from  the  judgment-seat  as  if  to  bid  her  farewell.  Suddenly 
catching  up  a  butcher's  knife  from  a  block  near  by,  he  plunged  it  into  his  daughter's 
heart,  crying,  "  Thus  only  can  I  make  thee  free  !  "  Then  brandishing  the  red  blade, 
he  hastened  to  the  camp  and  roused  the  soldiers,  who  marched  to  the  city,  breathing 
vengeance.  As  over  the  body  of  the  injured  Lucretia,  so  again  over  the  corpse  of  the 
spotless  Virginia  the  populace  swore  that  Rome  should  be  free.  The  plebeians  flocked 
out  once  more  to  the  Sacred  Mount.  The  decemvirs  were  forced  to  resign.  The 
tribunes  and  consuls  were  restored  to  power.  Appius,  in  despair,  committed  suicide. 
(The  version  of  this  story  given  in  the  text  above  is  that  of  Ihne,  the  great  German 
critic,  in  his  new  work  on  Early  Rome.) 

10 


218  ROME.  [451  B.C. 

Forum,  where  all  could  read  them.  Henceforth  they  con- 
stituted the  foundation  of  the  written  law  of  Rome,  and 
eyery  school-boy,  as  late  as  Cicero's  time,  learned  them  by 
heart. 

Continued  Triumph  of  the  Plebs. — Step  by  step  the 
plebeians  pushed  their  demand  for  equal  privileges  with 
the  patricians.  First,  the  Valerian  and  Horatian  decrees 
(449  B.  c),  so  called  from  the  consuls  who  prepared  them, 
made  the  resolutions  passed  by  the  plebeians  in  the  assembly 
of  the  tribes  binding  equally  upon  the  patricians.  Next, 
the  Canuleian  decree  (445  B.  c.)  abolished  the  law  against 
intermarriage.  The  patricians,  finding  that  the  plebeians 
were  likely  to  get  hold  of  the  consulship,  compromised  by  abol- 
ishing that  office,  and  by  choosing,  through  the  assembly  of 
centuries,  from  patricians  and  plebeians  alike,  three  military 
tribunes  with  consular  powers.  But  the  patricians  did  not 
act  in  good  faith,  and  by  innumerable  arts  managed  to  cir- 
cumvent the  plebs,  so  that  during  the  next  fifty  years  (until 
400  B.  c.)  there  were  twenty  elections  of  consuls  instead  of 
military  tribunes,  and  when  military  tribunes  were  chosen 
they  were  always  patricians.  Meanwhile  the  patricians  also 
secured  the  appointment  of  censors,  who  were  to  be  chosen 
from  their  ranks  exclusively,  and  who,  besides  taking  the 
census,  were  to  classify  the  people  and  exercise  a  general 
supervision  over  their  morals.  So  vindictive  was  the  struggle 
now  going  on,  that  the  nobles  did  not  shrink  from  murder 
to  remove  a  promising  plebeian  candidate.*     But  the  plebs 

*  Thue  the  Fabii,  a  powerful  patrician  house  (one  of  the  consuls  for  seven  succes- 
sive years  was  a  Pabius),  having  taken  the  side  of  the  plebs,  and  finding  that  they 
could  not  thereafter  live  in  peace  at  Rome,  left  the  city  and  founded  an  outpost  on 
the  Cremera,  below  Veil,  where  they  could  still  serve  their  country.  This  little  body 
of  three  hundred  and  six  soldiers— including  the  Fabii,  their  clients  and  dependants- 
sustained  for  two  years  the  full  brunt  of  the  Veientine  War.  At  length  they  were 
enticed  into  an  ambuscade,  and  all  were  slain  except  one  little  boy,  the  ancestor  of 
the  Fabius  afterward  so  famous.  During  the  massacre  the  consular  army  was  near 
by,  but  patrician  hate  would  not  permit  a  rescue. 

Again,  during  a  severe  famine  at  Rome  (440  B.  c),  a  rich  plebeian,  named  Spurius 


367  B.  c] 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  219 


held  firm,  and  finally  secured  the  famous  Licinian  Rogation 
(867  B.C.),  which  ordered, — 

*'  I.  That,  in  case  of  debts  on  which  interest  had  been  met,  the  sum  of  the  interest 
paid  should  be  deducted  from  the  principal,  and  the  remainder  become  due  in  three 
successive  years.  This  bankrupt  law  was  designed  to  aid  the  poor,  now  overwhelmed 
with  debt,  and  so  in  the  power  of  the  rich  creditor. 

II.  That  no  citizen  should  hold  more  than  five  hundred  jugera  (about  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres)  of  the  public  land,  and  should  not  feed  on  the  public  pastures 
more  than  a  limited  number  of  cattle,  under  penalty  of  fine. 

in.  That  henceforth  consuls,  not  consular  tribunes,  should  be  elected,  and  that 
one  of  the  two  consuls  must  be  plebeian. 

IV.  That  instead  of  two  patricians  being  chosen  to  keep  the  Sibylline  books,  there 
should  be  ten  men,  taken  from  both  orders." 

For  years  after  its  passage  the  patricians  struggled  to  pre- 
yent  the  decree  from  going  into  effect.  But  the  common 
people  finally  won.  They  never  lost  the  ground  they  had 
gained,  and  secured,  in  rapid  succession,  the  dictatorship,  the 
censorship,  the  praetorship,  and  (300  b.  c.)  the  right  to  be 
pontiff  and  augur.  Kome,  at  last,  nearly  two  centuries 
after  the  republic  began,  possessed  a  democratic  govern- 
ment. *^  Civil  concord,"  says  Weber,  '^ to  which  a  temple 
was  dedicated  at  this  time,  brought  with  it  a  period  of  civic 
virtue  and  heroic  greatness." 

Foreign  Wars. — The  fall  of  the  monarchy  left  Eome  in 
weakness.  Her  old  supremacy  over  Latium  was  gone,  and 
often,  while  the  long  and  fierce  struggle  which  we  have 
just  considered  was  going  on  within  her  walls,  her  armies 
were  fighting  without,  sometimes  for  the  very  existence  of 
the  city.    There  was  a  constant  succession  of  wars*  with 


Maelius,  sold  grain  to  the  poor  at  a  very  low  rate.  The  patricians,  finding  that  he 
was  likely  to  be  a  successful  candidate  for  office,  accused  him  of  wishing  to  be  king, 
and  as  he  refused  to  appear  before  his  enemies  for  trial,  Ahala,  the  master  of 
horse,  slew  him  in  the  Forum,  with  his  own  hand. 

*  Various  beautiful  legends  cluster  around  these  eventful  wars,  and  they  have 
attained  almost  the  dignity,  though  we  cannot  tell  how  much  they  contain  of  the 
truth,  of  history. 

CoRioLANirs.— While  the  Romans  were  besieging  Corioli,  the  Volscians  made  a 
sally,  but  were  defeated.  In  the  eagerness  of  the  pursuit,  Cains  Marcius  followed  the 
enemy  inside  the  gates,  which  were  closed  upon  him.  But  with  his  good  sword  he 
hewed  his  way  back,  and  let  in  the  Romans.    So  the  city  was  taken,  and  the  hero 


220 


ROME 


[490  B.  c. 


the  Latins,  ^quians,  Volscians,  Etruscans,  Veientes,  and 
Samnites. 

The  Gallic  Invasion. — In  the  midst  of  these  contests  a 
horde  of  Gauls  crossed  the  Apennines,  and  spread  hke  a 
devastating  flood  over  central  Italy.  Rome  was  taken,  and 
nearly  all  the  city  burned  (490  B.C.).  The  invaders  con- 
received  the  name  Coriolanns.  Afterward  there  was  a  famine  at  Rome,  and  grain 
arriving  from  Sicily,  Caius  would  not  sell  any  to  the  plebs  unless  they  would  submit 
to  the  patricians.  Thereupon  the  tribunes  sought  to  bring  him  to  trial,  but  he  fled 
and  took  refuge  among  the  Volsci.  Soon  after,  he  returned  at  the  head  of  a  great 
army  and  laid  siege  to  Rome.  The  city  was  in  peril.  As  a  final  resort,  his  mother, 
wife,  and  children,  with  many  of  the  chief  women,  clad  in  the  deepest  mourning, 
went  forth  and  fell  at  his  feet.  Unable  to  resist  their  entreaties,  Coriolanus  ex- 
claimed, "  Mother,  thou  hast  saved  Rome,  but  lost  thy  son."  Having  given  the  order 
to  retreat,  he  is  said  to  have  been  slain  by  the  angry  Volsci. 


CINCINNATUS   RECEIVING  THE   DICTATORSHIP. 


CiNciNNATUS.— One  day  news  came  that  the  -^quians  had  surrounded  the  consul 
Minucius  and  his  army  in  a  deep  valley,  whence  they  could  not  escape.  There  seemed 
no  one  in  Rome  fit  to  meet  this  emergency  except  Titus  Quinctius,  surnamed  Cincin- 
njitcis  or  the  Curly-haired,  who  was  now  declared  dictator.    The  officers  who  went  to 


490  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  221 

sented  to  retire  only  on  the  payment  of  a  heavy  ransom. 
So  deep  an  impression  was  made  upon  the  Romans  by  the 
size,  strength,  courage,  and  enormous  number  of  these  bar- 
barians that  they  thenceforth  called  a  war  with  the  Gauls  a 
tumult,  and  kept  in  the  treasury  a  special  fund  for  such  a 
catastrophe. 

The  final  effect  of  all  these  wars  was  beneficial  to  Rome. 
The  plebeians,  who  formed  the  strength  of  her  army, 
frequently  carried  their  point  against  the  patricians  by 
refusing  to  fight  until  they  got  their  rights.  These  long 
struggles,  too,  matured  the  Roman  energy,  and  developed 

announce  his  appointment  found  him  plowing  on  his  little  farm  of  four  acres, 
which  he  tilled  himself.  He  called  for  his  toga,  that  he  might  receive  the  commands 
of  the  senate  with  due  respect,  when  he  was  at  once  hailed  dictator.  Repairing  to 
the  city,  he  assembled  fresh  troops,  bidding  each  man  carry  twelve  wooden  stakes. 
That  very  night  he  surrounded  the  -^quians,  dug  a  ditch,  and  made  a  palisade  about 
their  camp.  Minucius  hearing  the  Roman  war-cry,  rushed  up  and  fell  upon  the 
enemy  with  all  his  might.  When  day  broke,  the  .^quians  found  themselves  hemmed 
in,  and  were  forced  to  surrender  and  to  pass  under  the  yoke.  Cincinnatus,  on  his 
return,  was  awarded  a  golden  crown.  Having  saved  his  country,  he  resigned  his 
office  and  went  back  to  his  plow  again,  content  with  the  quiet  of  his  rustic  home. 

The  siege  of  Veu— the  Troy  of  Roman  legend— lasted  ten  years.  Before  that 
the  Roman  wars  consisted  mainly  of  mere  forays  into  an  enemy's  country.  Now  the 
troops  remained  summer  and  winter,  and,  for  the  first  time,  received  regular  pay.  In 
the  seventh  year  of  the  siege.  Lake  Albanus,  though  in  the  heat  of  summer,  over- 
flowed its  banks.  The  Delphic  oracle  declared  that  Veil  would  not  fall  until  the  lake 
was  dried  up ;  whereupon  the  Roman  army  cut  a  tunnel  through  the  solid  rock  to 
convey  the  surplus  water  over  the  neighboring  fields.  Still  the  city  did  not  yield. 
Camillus  having  been  appointed  dictator,  dug  a  passage  under  the  wall.  One  day  the 
king  of  Veil  was  about  to  offer  a  sacrifice,  when  the  soothsayer  told  him  that  the  city 
should  belong  to  him  who  slew  the  victim.  The  Romans,  who  were  beneath,  heard 
these  words,  and,  forcing  their  way  through,  hastened  to  the  shrine,  and  Camillus 
completed  the  sacrifice.  The  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  the  Roman  army  rushing 
in,  overpowered  all  opposition. 

The  city  op  Falekh  had  aided  the  Veientes.  When  Camillus,  bent  on  revenge, 
appeared  before  the  place,  a  schoolmaster  secretly  brought  into  the  Roman  camp  his 
pupils,  the  children  of  the  chief  men  of  Falerii.  Camillus,  scorning  to  receive  the 
traitor,  tied  his  hands  behind  his  back,  and  giving  whips  to  the  boys,  bade  them  flog 
their  master  back  into  the  city.  The  Falerians,  moved  by  such  magnanimity,  sur- 
rendered to  the  Romans.  Camillus  entered  Rome  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  white  horses, 
and  having  his  face  colored  with  vermilion,  as  was  the  custom  when  the  gods  were 
borne  in  procession.  Unfortunately,  he  offended  the  plebs  by  ordering  each  man  to 
restore  one-tenth  of  his  booty  for  an  offering  to  Apollo.  He  was  accused  of  pride, 
and  of  appropriating  to  his  own  use  the  bronze  gates  of  Veil.  Forced  to  leave  the 
city,  he  went  out  praying  that  Rome  might  yet  need  his  help.  That  time  soon  came. 
Five  years  after,  the  Gauls  defeated  the  Romans  at  the 

River  Allia.     So  great  was  the  slaughter  that  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  was 


222  ROME.  [490  B.C. 

the  Roman  character  in  all  its  stern,  unfeeling,  and  yet 
heroic  strength. 

Afte?^  the  Gallic  invasion  Rome  was  soon  rebuilt.  The 
surrounding  nations  having  suffered  still  more  severely  from 
the  northern  barbarians,  and  tlie  Gauls  being  now  looked 
upon  as  the  common  enemy  of  Italy,  Rome  came  to  be  con- 
sidered the  common  defender.  The  plebs,  in  rebuilding 
their  ruined  houses  and  buying  tools,  cattle,  and  seed,  were 
reduced  to  greater  straits  than  ever  before  (unless  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  Etruscan  kings) ;  and  to  add  to  their  bur- 
dens a  double  tribute  was  imposed  by  the  government,  in 

henceforth  a  black  day  in  the  Roman  calendar.  The  wreck  of  the  army  took  refuge 
in  Veil.  The  people  of  Rome  fled  for  their  lives.  The  young  patricians  garrisoned 
the  citadel ;  and  the  gray-haired  senators,  devoting  themselves  as  an  offering  to  the 
gods,  put  on  their  robes,  and,  sitting  in  their  ivory-chairs  of  magistracy,  awaited 
death.  The  barbarians,  hurrying  through  the  deserted  streets,  at  length  came  to  the 
Forum.  For  a  moment  they  stood  amazed  at  the  sight  of  those  solemn  figures.  Then 
one  of  the  Gauls  put  out  his  hand  reverently  to  stroke  the  white  beard  of  an  aged 
senator,  when  the  indignant  Roman,  revolting  at  the  profanation,  felled  him  with  his 
staff.    The  spell  was  broken,  and  the  senators  were  ruthlessly  massacred. 

Thesieje  of  the  Capitol  lasted  for  months.  One  night  a  party  of  Gauls  clambered 
up  the  steep  ascent,  and  one  of  them  reached  the  highest  ledge  of  the  rock.  Just 
then  some  sacred  geese  in  the  temple  of  Juno  began  to  cry  and  flap  their  wings. 
Marcus  Manlius,  aroused  by  the  noise,  rushed  out,  saw  the  peril,  and  dashed  the 
foremost  Gaul  over  the  precipice.  Other  Romans  rallied  to  his  aid,  and  the  imminent 
peril  was  arrested.  The  Gauls,  becoming  weary  of  the  siege,  offered  to  accept  a  ran- 
som of  a  thousand  pounds  of  gold.  This  sum  was  raised  from  the  temple-treasures 
and  the  ornaments  of  the  Roman  women.  As  they  were  weighing  the  articles,  the 
Romans  complained  of  the  scales  being  false,  when  Brennus,  the  Gallic  chief,  threw 
in  his  heavy  sword,  insolently  exclaiming,  "  Woe  to  the  vanquished ! "  At  that 
moment  Camillus  strode  in  at  the  head  of  an  army,  crying,  "  Rome  is  to  be  bought 
with  iron,  not  gold  I ",  drove  out  the  enemy,  and  not  a  man  escaped  to  tell  how  low 
the  city  had  fallen  on  that  eventful  day.  When  the  Romans  returned  to  their  devas- 
tated homes  they  were  at  first  of  a  mind  to  leave  Rome,  and  occupy  the  empty  dwell- 
ings of  Veii.  But  a  lucky  omen  prevailed  on  them  to  remain.  Just  as  a  senator  was 
rising  to  speak,  a  centurion  relieving  guard  gave  the  command,"  Plant  your  colors; 
this  is  the  best  place  to  stay  in."  The  senators  rushed  forth,  shouting,  "  The  gods 
have  spoken ;  we  obey  !  "  The  people  caught  the  enthusiasm, and  cried  out,  "Rome 
forever  1 " 

Marcus  Manlius,  who  saved  the  Capitol,  befriended  the  people  in  the  distress 
which  followed  the  Gallic  invasion.  One  day,  seeing  a  soldier  dragged  off  to  prison 
for  debt,  he  paid  the  amount  and  released  the  man,  at  the  same  time  swearing  that 
while  he  had  any  property  left,  no  Roman  should  be  imprisoned  for  debt.  The  patri- 
cians, jealous  of  his  influence  among  the  plebs,  accused  him  of  wishing  to  become 
king.  He  was  brought  to  trial  in  the  Campus  Martius  ;  but  the  hero  pointed  to  the 
spoils  of  thirty  warriors  whom  he  had  slain;  forty  distinctions  won  in  battle;  his 
innumerable  scars ;  and,  above  all,  to  the  Capitol  he  had  saved.    His  enemies  finding 


396  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  223 

order  to  replace  the  sacred  gold  used  to  buy  off  the  Gauls. 
But  this  very  misery  soon  led  to  the  Licinian  Rogations,  and 
so  to  the.  growth  of  liberty.  Thus  the  plebs  got  a  consul 
twenty-four  years  after  the  Gauls  left,  just  as  they  got  the 
tribunes  fifteen  years  after  the  Etruscans  left ;  the  succeed- 
ing ruin  both  times  being  followed  by  a  triumph  of 
democracy. 

The  capture  of  Veii  (396  B.  c.)  gave  the  Eomans  a  foothold 
beyond  the  Tiber ;  and,  only  three  years  after  the  Gallic  in- 
vasion, four  new  tribes,  carved  out  of  the  Veientine  land, 
were  added  to  the  republic. 

a  conviction  in  that  place  impossible,  adjourned  to  a  grove  where  the  Capitol  could 
not  be  seen,  and  there  the  man  who  had  saved  Rome  was  sentenced  to  death,  and  at 
once  hurled  from  the  Tarpeian  Rock. 

QuiNTUs  CuRTius.— Not  long  after  the  Licinian  Rogations  were  passed,  Rome 
was  afflicted  by  a  plague,  in  which  Camillas  died  ;  by  an  overflow  of  the  Tiber  ;  and 
by  an  earthquake,  which  opened  a  great  chasm  in  the  Forum.  The  augurs  de- 
clared that  the  gulf  would  not  close  until  there  were  cast  into  it  the  most  precious 
things.  Whereupon  Quintus  Curtius  mounted  his  horse,  and  riding  at  full  speed, 
leaped  into  the  abyss,  declaring  that  Rome's  best  riches  were  her  brave  men. 

The  Battle  op  Mount  Vesuvius  (340  b.  c.)  was  the  chief  event  of  the  Latin 
War.  Prior  to  this  engagement  the  consul  Manlius  ordered  that  no  one  should  quit 
his  post  under  pain  of  death.  But  his  own  son.  provoked  by  the  taunts  of  a  Tusculan 
officer,  left  the  ranks,  slew  his  opponent  in  single  combat,  and  brought  the  bloody 
spoils  to  his  father.  The  stern  parent  ordered  him  to  be  at  once  beheaded  by  the 
lictor,  in  the  presence  of  the  army.  During  the  battle  which  followed,  the  Romans 
were  on  the  point  of  yielding,  when  Decius,  the  plebeian  consul,  who  had  promised, 
in  case  of  defeat,  to  oflfer  himself  to  the  infernal  gods,  fulfilled  his  vow.  Calling  the 
pontifex  maximus,  he  repeated  the  form  devoting  the  foe  and  himself  to  death,  and 
then  wrapping  his  toga  about  him  leaped  upon  his  horse,  and  dashed  into  the  thickest 
of  the  fight.  His  death  inspired  the  Ilomans  with  fresh  hope,  and  scarce  one-fourth 
of  the  Latins  escaped  from  that  bloody  field. 

Battle  of  the  Caudine  Forks.— During  the  second  Samnite  War  there  arose 
among  the  Samnites  a  famous  captain  named  Caius  Pontius.  By  a  stratagem  he  en- 
ticed the  Roman  army  into  the  Caudine  Forks.  High  mountains  here  enclose  a  little 
plain,  having  at  each  end  a  passage  through  a  narrow  defile.  When  the  Romans  were 
fairly  in  the  basin  the  Samnites  suddenly  appeared  in  both  gorges,  and  forced  the 
consuls  to  surrender  with  four  legions.  Pontius,  having  sent  his  prisoners  under 
the  yoke,  furnished  them  with  wagons  for  the  wounded  and  food  for  their  journey, 
and  then  released  them  on  certain  conditions  of  peace.  The  senate  refused  to  ratify 
the  terms,  and  ordered  the  consuls  to  be  delivered  up  to  the  Samnites,  but  did  not 
send  back  the  soldiers.  Pontius  replied  that  if  the  senate  would  not  make  peace, 
then  it  should  place  the  army  back  in  the  Caudine  Forks.  The  Romans,  who  rarely 
scrupled  at  any  conduct  that  promised  their  advantage,  continued  the  war.  Bat  when, 
twenty-nine  years  later,  Pontius  was  captured  by  Fabias  Maximus,  that  brave  Sam- 
nite leader  was  disgracefully  put  to  death  as  the  triumphal  chariot  of  the  victor 
ascended  to  the  Capitol. 


224  ROME.  *         [337  B.C. 

The  final  result  of  the  Latin  War  (340-338  B.C.)  was, 
in  place  of  the  old  Latin  League,*  to  merge  the  cities  of 
Latium,  one  by  one,  into  the  Roman  state. 

The  three  Samnite  Wars  (343-290  b.  c.)  occupied  half  a 
century,  save  only  brief  intervals,  and  were  most  obstinately 
contested.  The  long-doubtful  struggle  culminated  at  the 
great  battle  of  Sentinum.  Samnium  became  a  subject-ally. 
Rome  was  noiv  mistress  of  central  Italy.  She  had  fairly 
entered  on  her  career  of  conquest. 

War  with  Pyrrhus  (280-276  b.  c.).— The  rising  city 
next  came  into  conflict  with  the  Greek  colonies  in  southern 
Italy.  The  Romans  had  made  a  treaty  with  Tarentum, 
promising  not  to  send  ships  of  war  past  the  Lacinian  prom- 
ontory. But,  having  a  garrison  in  the  friendly  city  of  Thurii, 
the  senate  ordered  a  fleet  to  that  place ;  so  one  day,  while  the 
people  of  Tarentum  were  seated  in  their  theatre  witnessing 
a  play,  they  suddenly  saw  ten  Roman  galleys  sailing  upon 
the  forbidden  waters.  The  audience  in  a  rage  left  their 
seats,  rushed,  down  to  the  shore,  manned  some  ships,  and 
pushing  out  sank  four  of  the  Roman  squadron.  The  senate 
sent  ambassadors  to  ask  satisfaction.  They  reached  Taren- 
tum, so  says  the  legend,  during  a  feast  of  Bacchus.  Postu- 
mius,  the  leader  of  the  envoys,  made  so  many  mistakes  in 
talking  Greek  that  the  people  laughed  aloud,  and,  as  he  was 
leaving,  a  buffoon  threw  mud  upon  his  white  toga.  The 
shouts  only  increased  when  Postumius,  holding  up  his  soiled 
robe,  cried,  ^'  This  shall  be  washed  in  torrents  of  your 
blood  ! "    War  was  now  inevitable.     Tarentum,!  unable  to 

*  The  Latin  League  (p.  216)  was  dissolved  in  the  same  year  (338  b.  c.)  with  the 
battle  of  Chgeronea  (p.  149), 

t  The  Greek  colonists  retained  the  pride,  though  they  had  lost  the  simplicity,  of 
their  ancestors.  They  were  effeminate  to  the  last  degree.  "  At  Tarentum  there  were 
not  enough  .days  in  the  calendar  on  which  to  hold  the  festivals,  and  at  Sybaris  they 
killed  all  the  cocks  lest  they  should  disturb  the  inhabitants  in  their  sleep." 


280B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  225 

resist  the  "  barbarians  of  the  Tiber,"  appealed  to  the  mother- 
country  for  help.  Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus,  came  over  with 
twenty-five  thousand  soldiers  and  twenty  elephants.  For 
the  first  time  the  Roman  legioji  (p.  271)  met  the  dreaded 
Macedonian  phalanx.  In  vain  the  Roman  soldiers  sought 
to  break  through  the  bristling  hedge,  with  their  swords 
hewing  off  the  pikes,  and  with  their  hands  bearing  them  to 
the  ground.  To  complete  their  discomfiture,  Pyrrhus 
launched  his  elephants  upon  their  weakened  ranks.  At 
the  sight  of  that  "new  kind  of  oxen,"  the  Roman  cavalry 
fled  in  dismay. 

Pyrrhus  won  a  second  battle  in  the  same  way.  He  then 
crossed  over  into  Sicily  to  help  the  Greeks  against  the  Car- 
thaginians. When  he  returned,  two  years  later,  while  at- 
tempting to  surprise  the  Romans  by  a  night  attack,  his 
troops  lost  their  way,  and  the  next  morning,  when  weary 
with  the  march,  they  were  assailed  by  the  enemy.  The 
once-dreaded  elephants  were  frightened  back  by  fire-brands, 
and  driven  through  the  Grecian  lines.  Pyrrhus  was  defeated, 
and,  having  lost  nearly  all  his  army,  returned  to  Epirus.* 
The  Greek  colonies,  deprived  of  his  help,  were  subjugated  in 
rapid  succession. 

*  Many  romantic  incidents  are  told  of  this  war.  As  Pyrrhus  walked  over  the 
battle-field  and  saw  the  Romans  lying  all  with  wounds  in  front  and  their  countenances 
stem  in  death,  he  cried  out,  "  With  such  soldiers  I  could  conquer  the  world !  "— 
Cineas,  whom  Pyrrhus  sent  to  Rome  as  an  ambassador,  returned,  saying,  "  the  city  was 
like  a  temple  of  the  gods,  and  the  senate  an  assembly  of  kings."— Fabricius,  who 
came  to  Pyrrhus's  camp  on  a  similar  mission,  was  a  sturdy  Roman,  who  worked  his 
own  farm,  and  loved  integrity  and  honor  more  than  aught  else,  save  his  country. 
The  Grecian  leader  was  surprised  to  find  in  this  haughty  barbarian  that  same  great- 
ness of  soul  that  had  once  made  the  Hellenic  character  so  famous.  He  offered  him 
"  more  gold  than  Rome  had  ever  possessed  "  if  he  would  enter  his  service,  but  Fabri- 
cius replied  that  "  Poverty,  with  a  good  name,  is  better  than  wealth."  Afterward 
the  physician  of  Pyrrhus  offered  to  poison  the  king.  But  the  indignant  Roman  sent 
back  the  traitor  in  irons.  Pyrrhus,  not  to  be  outdone  in  generosity,  set  free  all  his 
captives,  saying,  that  "  it  was  easier  to  turn  the  sun  from  its  course  than  Fabricius 
from  the  path  of  honor."— Dentatus,  the  consul  who  defeated  Pyrrhus,  was  offered 
by  the  grateful  senate  a  tract  of  land.  He  replied  that  he  already  had  seven  acres, 
and  that  was  sufficient  for  any  citizen. 


226  ROME.  [265  BC. 

Rome  was  now  Mistress  of  peninsular  Italy.  She  was 
ready  to  begin  her  grand  course  of  foreign  conquest. 

The  Roman  Government  in  Italy  was  that  of  one  city 
supreme  over  many  cities.  Rome  retained  the  rights  of  de- 
claring war,  making  peace,  and  coining  money,  but  permitted 
her  subjects  to  manage  their  local  affairs.  All  were  required 
to  furnish  soldiers  to  fight  under  the  eagles  of  Rome.  There 
were  three  classes  of  inhabitants,  Roman  citizens,  Latins, 
and  Italians.  The  Roman  citizens  were  those  who  occupied 
the  territory  of  Rome  proper,  including  others  upon  whom 
this  franchise  had  been  bestowed.  They  had  the  right  to 
meet  in  the  Forum  to  enact  laws,  elect  consuls,  etc.  The 
Latins  had  only  a  few  of  the  rights  of  citizenship,  and  the 
Italians  or  allies  none.  '  As  the  power  of  Rome  grew,  Roman 
citizenship  acquired  a  might  and  a  meaning  [Acts  xxii.  25  ; 
xxiii.  37  ;  xxv.  11-21)  which  made  it  eagerly  sought  by  every 
person  and  city  ;  it  was  constantly  held  out,  as  a  reward  for 
special  service  and  devotion,  that  the  Italian  could  be  made 
a  Latin,  and  the  Latin  a  Roman. 

The  Romans  were  famous  road-builders,  and  the  great 
national  highways  which  they  constructed  throughout  their 
territories  did  much  to  tie  them  together  (p.  282).  By 
their  use  Rome  kept  up  constant  communication  with  all 
parts  of  her  possessions,  and  could  quickly  send  her  legions 
wherever  wanted. 

A  portion  of  the  land  in  each  conquered  state  was  given 
to  Roman  colonists.  They  became  the  patricians  in  the 
new  city,  the  old  inhabitants  counting  only  as  plebs.  Thus 
little  Romes  were  built  all  over  Italy.  The  natives  looked 
up  to  these  settlers,  and,  hoping  to  obtain  similar  rights, 
quickly  adopted  their  customs,  institutions,  and  language. 
So  the  entire  peninsula  rapidly  assumed  a  uniform^  national 
character. 


264  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  227 


THE    PUjSTIO*    wars. 

Carthage  (p.  76)  was  now  the  great  naval  and  colonizing 
power  of  the  western  Mediterranean.  She  had  established 
some  settlements  in  western  Sicily,  and  these  were  almost 
constantly  at  war  with  the  Greeks  on  the  eastern  coast.  As 
Sicily  lay  between  Carthage  and  Italy,  it  was  natural  that 
two  such  aggressive  powers  as  the  Carthaginians  and  the  Ko- 
mans  should  come  to  blows  on  that  island. 

First  Punic  War  (264-241  b.  c). — Some  pirates  seized 
Messana,  the  nearest  city  to  Italy,  and,  being  threatened  by 
the  Carthaginians  and  the  Syracusans,  asked  help  of  Rome, 
in  order  to  retain  their  ill-gotten  possessions.  On  this 
wretched  pretext  an  army  was  sent  into  Sicily.  The  Car- 
thaginians were  driven  back,  and  Hiero,  king  of  Syracuse, 
was  forced  to  make  a  treaty  with  Eome.  Agrigentum,  an 
important  naval  depot  belonging  to  Carthage,  was  then  cap- 
tured, in  spite  of  a  large  army  of  mercenary  soldiers  which 
the  Carthaginians  sent  to  its  defence. 

Rome's  First  Fleet  (260  B.c.).f — The  Eoman  senate,  not 
content  with  this  success,  was  bent  on  contesting  with  Car- 
thage the  supremacy  of  the  sea.  One  hundred  and  thirty 
vessels  were  accordingly  built  in  sixty  days,  a  stranded 
Phoenician  galley  being  taken  as  a  model.  To  compensate 
the  lack  of  skilled  seamen,  the  ships  were  provided  with 
drawbridges,  so  that  coming  at  once  to  close  quarters  their 
disciplined  soldiers  could  rush  upon  the  enemies'  deck,  and 
decide  the  contest  by  a  hand-to-hand  fight.     They  thus  beat 

*  From  jmnicus,  an  adjective  derived  from  Pceni,  the  Latin  form  of  the  word 
Phoenicians. 

t  The  Romans  began  to  construct  a  fleet  as  early  as  338  b.  c,  and,  in  267,  we  read 
of  the  questors  of  the  navy,  but  the  vessels  were  small,  and  Kome  was  a  land-power 
until  260  B.  c. 


256B.C.J  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  229 

the  Carthaginians  in  two  great  naval  battles  within  four 
years. 

Romans  Cross  the  Sea. — Under  Regulus  the  Romans  then 
crossed  the  Mediterranean,  and  "  carried  the  war  into  Africa." 
The  natives,  weary  of  the  oppressive  rule  of  the  Carthaginians, 
welcomed  their  deliverers.  Carthage  seemed  about  to  fall, 
when  the  presence  of  one  man  turned  the  tide.  Xanthippus, 
a  Spartan  general,  led  the  Carthaginians  to  victory,  destroyed 
the  Roman  army,  and  captured  Regulus.  * 

After  this  the  contest  dragged  on  for  several  years ;  but  a 
signal  victory  near  Panormus,  in  Sicily,  gave  the  Romans 
the  ascendency  in  that  island,  and  finally  a  great  naval  defeat 
6fE  the  JEgusa  Islands  cost  the  Carthaginians  the  empire  of 
the  sea.  Carthage  was  forced  to  give  up  Sicily,  and  pay 
three  thousand  two  hundred  talents  of  silver  (about  four 
million  dollars)  toward  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The 
temple  of  Janus  was  shut  for  the  first  time  since  the  days 
of  Numa. 

Rome^s  first  province  was  Sicily.  This  was  governed,  like 
all  the  possessions  which  she  afterward  acquired  outside  of 
Italy,  by  magistrates  sent  each  year  from  Rome.  The  people, 
being  made  not  allies  but  subjects,  were  required  to  pay  an 
annual  tribute. 

*  It  is  said  that  Eegulus,  while  at  the  height  of  his  success,  asked  permission  to 
return  home  to  his  little  farm,  as  a  slave  had  run  away  with  the  tools,  and  his  family 
was  likely  to  suffer  with  want  during  his  absence.  After  his  capture,  the  Cartha- 
ginians sent  him  to  Rome  with  proposals  of  peace,  making  him  swear  to  return  in 
case  the  conditions  were  not  accepted.  On  his  arrival,  he  refused  to  enter  the  city, 
saying  that  he  was  no  longer  a  Roman  citizen,  but  only  a  Carthaginian  slave.  Having 
stated  the  terms  of  the  proposed  peace,  to  the  amazement  of  all,  he  urged  their  re- 
jection, as  unworthy  of  the  glory  and  honor  of  Rome.  Then,  without  visiting  his 
home,  he  turned  away  from  weeping  wife  and  children,  and  went  back  to  his  prison 
again.  The  enraged  Carthaginians  cut  off  his  eyelids,  and  exposed  him  to  the  burn- 
ing rays  of  a  tropic  sun  ;  and  then  thrust  him  into  a  barrel  studded  with  sharp  nails. 
So  perished  this  martyr  to  his  word  and  his  country.— Historic  research  throws 
doubt  on  the  truth  of  this  instance  of  Punic  cruelty,  and  asserts  that  the  story  was 
invented  to  excuse  the  barbarity  with  which  the  wife  of  Regulus  treated  some  Car- 
thaginian captives  who  fell  into  her  hands  ;  but  the  name  of  Regulus  lives  as  the  per- 
sonification of  sincerity  and  patriotic  devotion. 


330  ROMf.  [218  B.C. 

Second  Punic  War  (218-201  b.c). — During  the  ensuing 
peace  of  twenty- three  years,  Hamilcar  (sur named  Barca, 
lightning),  the  great  statesman  and  general  of  Carthage, 
built  up  an  empire  in  southern  Spain,  and  trained  an  army 
for  a  new  struggle  with  Eome.  He  hated  that  city  with  a 
perfect  hatred.  When  he  left  home  for  Spain,  he  took  with 
him  his  son  Hannibal,  a  boy  nine  years  old,  having  first 
made  him  swear  at  the  altar  of  Baal  always  to  be  the  enemy 
of  the  Eomans.  That  childish  oath  was  never  forgotten, 
and  Hannibal,  like  his  father,  had  but  one  purpose — to 
humble  his  country's  rival.  When  twenty-six  years  of  age, 
he  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  the  Carthaginian  army. 
Pushing  the  Punic  power  northward,  he  captured  Sagunturh, 
As  that  city  was  her  ally,  Rome  promptly  declared  war  against 
Carthage.*  On  the  receipt  of  this  welcome  news,  Hannibal, 
with  the  daring  of  genius,  resolved  to  scale  the  Alps,  and 
carry  the  contest  into  Italy. 

Invasion  of  Italy. — In  the  spring  of  the  year  218  b.  c,  he 
set  outf  from  New  Carthage.  Through  hostile  tribes,  over 
the  swift  Rhone,  he  pressed  forward  to  the  foot  of  the  Alps. 
Here  dangers  multiplied.  The  mountaineers  rolled  down 
rocks  upon  his  column,  as  it  wearily  toiled  up  the  steep  ascent. 
Snow  blocked  the  way.  At  times  the  crack  of  a  whip  would 
bring  down  an  avalanche  from  the  impending  heights.  The 
men  and  horses  slipped  on  the  sloping  ice-fields,  and  slid 
over  the  precipices  into  the  awful  crevasses.  New  roads  had 
to  be  cut  through  the  solid  rock  by  hands  benumbed  with 

*  An  embassy  came  to  Carthage  demanding  that  Hannibal  should  be  surrendered. 
This  being  refused,  M.  Fabius,  folding  up  his  toga  as  if  it  contained  something, 
exclaimed,  "  I  bring  you  peace  or  war;  take  which  you  will  I"  The  Carthaginians 
answered,  "  Give  us  which  you  wish  I "  Shaking  open  his  toga,  the  Roman  haughtily 
replied,  "  I  give  you  war  1 "    "  So  let  it  be ! "  shouted  the  assembly. 

t  Before  starting  on  this  expedition,  Hannibal  went  with  his  immediate  attendants 
to  Gades,  and  offered  sacrifice  in  the  temples  for  the  success  of  the  great  work  to 
which  he  had  been  dedicated  eighteen  years  before,  and  to  which  he  had  been  looking 
forward  so  long. 


218  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTOKY. 


231 


cold  and  weakened  with  hunger.  When  at 
last  he  reached  the  smiling  plains  of  Italy, 
only  twenty-six  thousand  men  were  left  of 
the  one  hundred  and  two  thousand  with 
whom  he  began  the  perilous  march  five 
months  before. 


Battles  of  Trebia, 
Trasime'nus,  and  Can- 
nee. — Arriving  at  the 
river  Trebia  in  Decem- 
.ber,  Hannibal  found 
the  Komans,  under 
Sempronius,  ready  to 
dispute  his  progress. 
One  stormy  morning,  he  sent  the 
light    Numidian    cavalry    over    to 


2S^  ROME.  [218  B.C. 

make  a  feigned  attack  on  the  enemy's  camp.  The  Romans 
fell  into  the  snare,  and  pursued  the  horsemen  back  across 
the  river.  When  the  legions,  stiff  with  cold  and  faint 
with  hunger,  emerged  from  the  icy  waters,  they  found  the 
Carthaginian  army  drawn  up  to  receive  them.  Undismayed 
by  the  sight,  they  at  once  joined  battle  ;  but,  in  the  midst 
of  the  struggle,  Hannibal's  brother  Mago  fell  upon  their 
rear  with  a  body  of  men  which  had  been  hidden  in  a  reedy 
ravine  near  by.  The  Romans,  panic-stricken,  broke  and 
fled. 

The  fierce  Gauls  now  flocked  to  Hannibal's  camp,  and 
remained  his  active  allies  during  the  rest  of  the  war. 

The  next  year  Hannibal  moved  southward.*  One  day  in 
June,  the  consul  Flaminius  was  eagerly  pursuing  him  along 
the  banks  of  the  Lake  Trasimenus.  Suddenly,  through  the 
mist,  the  Carthaginians  poured  down  from  the  heights,  and 
put  the  Romans  to  rout.f 

Fabius  was  now  appointed  dictator.  Keeping  on  the 
heights  where  he  could  not  be  attacked,  he  followed  Hanni- 
bal everywhere,^  cutting  off  his  supplies,  but  never  hazarding 
a  battle.  The  Romans  became  impatient  at  seeing  their 
country  ravaged  while  their  army  remained  inactive,  and 
Varro,  the  consul,  offered  battle  on  the  plain  of  Cannw. 
Hannibal  drew  up  the  Carthaginians  m  the  shape  of  a  half- 
moon  having  the  convex  side  toward  the  enemy,  and  tipped 

*  In  the  low  flooded  grounds  along  the  Arno  the  army  suffered  fearfully.  Hanni- 
bal himself  lost  an  eye  by  inflammation,  and,  it  was  said,  his  life  was  saved  by  the' 
last  remaining  elephant,  which  carried  him  out  of  the  swamp. 

\  So  fierce  was  this  struggle  that  none  of  the  combatants  noticed  the  shock  of  a 
severe  earthquake  which  occurred  in  the  midst  of  the  battle. 

X  While  Hannibal  was  ravaging  the  rich  plains  of  Campania,  the  wary  Fabius 
seized  the  passes  of  the  Apennines,  through  which  Hannibal  must  recross  into  Sam- 
nium  with  his  booty.  The  Carthaginian  was  apparently  caught  in  the  trap.  But  his 
mind  was  fertile  in  devices.  He  fastened  torches  to  the  horns  of  two  thousand  oxen, 
and  sent  men  to  drive  them  up  the  neighboring  heights.  The  Romans  at  the  defiles 
thinking  the  Carthaginians  were  trying  to  escape  over  the  hills,  ran  to  the  defence. 
Hannibal  quickly  seized  the  passes,  and  marched  through  with  his  army. 


216B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  233 

the  horns  of  the  crescent  with  his  veteran  cavalry.  The 
massive  legions  quickly  broke  through  his  weak  center.  But 
as  they  pressed  forward  in  eager  pursuit,  his  terrible  horse- 
men fell  upon  their  rear.  Hemmed  in  on  all  sides,  the 
Eomans  could  neither  fight  nor  flee.  Twenty-one  tribunes, 
eighty  senators,  and  over  seventy  thousand  men  fell  in  that 
horrible  massacre.  After  the  battle,  Hannibal  sent  to  Car- 
thage a  bushel  of  gold  rings — the  ornaments  of  Koman 
knights.  At  Rome  all  was  dismay.  ^'  One-fifth  of  the 
citizens  able  to  bear  arms  had  fallen  within  eighteen  months, 
and  in  every  house  there  was  mourning."  All  southern  Italy, 
including  Capua,  the  city  next  in  importance  to  the  capital, 
joined  Hannibal. 

HannibaVs  Reverses, — The  tide  of  Hannibal's  victories, 
however,  ebbed  from  this  time.  The  Eoman  spirit  rose  in 
the  hour  of  peril,  and,  while  struggling  at  home  for  exist- 
ence, the  senate  sent  armies  into  Sicily,  Greece,  and  Spain. 
The  Latin  cities  remained  true,  not  one  revolting  to  the  Car- 
thaginians. The  Eoman  generals  had  learned  not  to  fight 
in  the  open  field,  where  Hannibal's  cavalry  and  genius  were 
so  fatal  to  them,  but  to  keep  behind  walls,  since  Hannibal 
had  no  skill  in  sieges,  and  his  army  was  too  small  to  take 
their  strongholds.  Hannibal's  brother  Hasdrubal  was  busy 
fighting  the  Eomans  in  Spain,  and  could  send  him  no  aid. 
The  Carthaginians  also  were  chary  of  Hannibal,  and  refused 
him  help. 

For  thirteen  years  longer  Hannibal  remained  in  Italy,  but 
he  was  at  last  driven  into  Bruttium — the  toe  of  the  Italian 
boot.  Never  did  his  genius  shine  more  brightly.  He  con- 
tinually sallied  out  to  protect  his  allies,  or  to  plunder  and 
devastate.  Once  he  went  so  near  Eome  that  he  hurled  a 
javelin  over  its  walls.  Nevertheless,  and  in  spite  of  his 
efforts,  Capua  was  retaken.     Syi-acuse  promised  aid,  but  was 


234  HOME.  [213  B.C. 

captured  by  the  Eoman  army.*  Hasdrubal  finally  managed 
to  get  out  of  Spain  and  cross  the  Alps,  but  at  the  Metaurus  \ 
(207  B.  c.)  was  routed  and  slain.  The  first  notice  Hannibal 
had  of  his  brother's  approach  was  when  Hasdrubal's  head 
was  thrown  into  the  Carthaginian  camp.  At  the  sight  of 
this  ghastly  memorial,  Hannibal  exclaimed  :  '' Ah  Carthage, 
I  behold  thy  doom!" 

Hannihal  Recalled. — P.  Scipio,  who  had  already  expelled 
the  Carthaginians  from  Spain,  now  carried  the  war  into 
Africa.  Carthage  was  forced  to  summon  her  great  general 
Jfrom  Italy.  He  came  to  her  defence,  but  met  the  first  defeat 
of  his  life  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Zama,  On  that  fatal  field 
the  veterans  of  the  Italian  wars  fell,  and  Hannibal  himself 
gave  up  the  struggle.  Peace  was  granted  Carthage  on  her 
paying  a  crushing  tribute,  and  agreeing  not  to  go  to  war 
without  the  permission  of  Eome.  Scipio  received  the  name 
Africanus,  in  honor  of  his  triumph. 

Fate  of  Hannibal. — On  the  return  of  peace,  Hannibal, 
with  singular  wisdom,  began  the  reformation  of  his  native 
city.  But  his  enemies,  by  false  representations  at  Rome, 
compelled  him  to  quit  Carthage,  and  take  refuge  at  the 
court  of  Antiochus  (p.  237).  When  at  length  his  patron 
was  at  the  feet  of  their  common  enemy,  and  no  longer  able 
to  protect  him,  Hannibal  fled  to  Bithynia,  where,  finding 
himself  still  pursued  by  the  vindictive  Romans,  he  ended  his 

*  The  siege  of  Syracuse  (214-212  B.  c.)  is  famous  for  the  genius  displayed  in  its 
defence  by  the  mathematician  Arciiimedes.  He  is  said  to  have  fired  the  Roman  fleet 
by  means  of  immense  burning-glasses,  and  to  have  contrived  machines  that  reaching 
huge  arms  over  the  wails,  graspe:!  and  overturned  the  galleys.  The  Romans  became 
so  timid  that  they  would  "  flee  at  the  sight  of  a  stick  thrust  out  at  them."  When  the 
city  was  finally  taken  by  storm,  Mttrcellus  gave  orders  to  spare  Archimedes.  But  a 
soldier  rushing  into  the  philosopher's  study  found  an  old  man,  who,  not  noticing  his 
drawn  sword,  bade  him  "  Noli  turbare  circulos  meos."  Enraged  by  his  indifference, 
the  Roman  slew  him  on  the  spot. 

t  This  engagement,  which  decided  the  issue  of  Hannibars  invasion  of  Italy,  is 
reckoned  among  the  most  impoitaut  in  the  history  of  the  world.  See  Creasy' s  Fif- 
teen Decisive  Battles,  p.  96. 


183  B.C.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  235 

days  by  taking  poison,  which  he  carried  with  him  in  a  hollow 
ring. 

Third  Punic  War  (149-146  b.  c.).— Half  a  century 
passed,  during  which  Carthage  was  slowly  recovering  her 
former  prosperity.  A  strong  party  at  Eome,  however,  was 
bent  upon  her  destruction.*  On  a  slight  pretence  war  was 
again  declared.  The  submission  of  the  Carthaginians  was 
abject.  They  gave  up  three  hundred  hostages,  and  surren- 
dered their  arms  and  armor.  But  when  bidden  to  leave  the 
city  that  it  might  be  razed,  they  were  driven  to  desperation. 
Old  and  young  toiled  at  the  forges  to  make  new  weapons. 
Vases  of  gold  and  silver,  even  the  statues  of  the  gods,  were 
melted.  The  women  braided  their  long  hair  into  bow-strings. 
The  Eomans  intrusted  the  siege  to  the  younger  Scipio.f  He 
captured  Carthage,  after  a  desperate  struggle.  Days  of  con- 
flagration and  plunder  followed.  The  city,  which  had  lasted 
over  seven  hundred  years  and  numbered  seven  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants,  was  utterly  wasted.  The  Carthaginian 
territory  was  turned  into  the  province  of  Africa.  J 

*  Prominent  amonor  these  was  Cato  tke  Censor.  This  rough,  stem  man,  with  his 
red  hair,  projecting  teeth,  and  coarse  robe,  was  the  sworn  foe  to  luxury,  and  the  per- 
sonification of  the  old  Roman  character.  Cruel  toward  his  slaves  and  revengeful 
toward  his  foes,  he  was  yet  rigid  in  morals,  devoted  to  his  country,  and  fearless  in 
punishing  crime.  In  the  discharge  of  his  duty  as  censor,  he  criticised  the  income 
and  expenses  of  all.  Rich  furaiture,  jewels,  and  costly  attire  fell  under  his  ban.  He 
even  removed,  it  is  said,  the  cold-water  pipes  leading  to  the  private  houses.  Jealous 
of  any  rival  to  Rome,  he  finished  every  speech  with  the  words,  "  Delenda  est  Car- 
thago !  "    In  PlutarcKs  Lives  (p.  177),  Cato  is  the  counterpart  of  Aristides  (p.  128). 

t  (1.)  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio  Africanus  Major  (p.  234)  was  the  conqueror  of 
Hannibal.  (2.)  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio  yEmilianus  Africanus  Minor,  the  one  spoken 
of  in  the  text  as  the  destroyer  of  Carthage,  was  the  son  of  Lucius  ^milius  Paullus, 
the  conqueror  of  Macedon  (p.  236),  and  was  adopted  by  P.  Scipio,  the  son  of  Africanus 
Major.  (3.)  Lucius  Cornelius  Scipio  Asiadcus,  who  defeated  Antiochus  (p.  237),  and 
hence  received  the  last  title,  was  the  brother  of  Africanus  Major, 

t  When  Scipio  beheld  the  ruin  of  Carthage,  he  is  said  to  have  burst  into  tears,  and 
turning  to  Polybius  the  historian,  quoted  the  lines  of  Homer: 

"  The  day  will  come  when  Troy  shall  sink  in  fire 
And  Priam's  people  with  himself  expire." 
And,  reflecting  on  the  mutations  of  time,  declared  that  Hector's  words  might  yet 
prove  true  of  Rome  herself. 


236  ROME.  [146  B.C. 

Eome  was  at  last  victor  over  her  great  rival.  It  was  de- 
cided that  Europe  was  not  to  be  given  over  to  Punic  civiliza- 
tion and  the  intellectual  despotism  of  the  East. 

Wars  in  Macedon  and  Greece. — While  Hannibal  was 
hard-pressed  in  Italy  he  made  a  treaty  with  Philip,  king  of 
Macedon,  and  a  descendant  of  Alexander.  In  the  First  War 
which  ensued  (214-207  b.  c),  not  much  of  importance  oc- 
curred, but  Rome  had  begun  to  mix  in  Grecian  affairs,  and 
that,  according  to  her  wont,  meant  conquest  by  and  by. 

The  Second  War  (200-197  B.  c.)  was  brought  about  by 
Philip's  attacking  the  Eoman  allies.  The  consul  Flaminius 
now  entered  Greece,  proclaiming  himself  the  champion  of 
Hellenic  liberty.  Transported  with  this  thought,  nearly  all 
Hellas  ranged  itself  under  the  eagles  of  Eome.  Philip  was 
overthrown  at  the  battle  of  Cynosceplialm  (197  b.  c),  and 
forced  to  accept  a  most  degrading  peace. 

After  Philip's  death,  his  son  Perseus  was  indefatigable  in 
his  efforts  to  restore  Macedon  to  its  old-time  glory. 

Tlie  Third  Tfar  (171-168  B.C.)  culminated  in  the  battle 
of  Pydna,  where  the  famous  Eoman  general  Paullus  van- 
quished forever  the  cumbersome  phalanx,  and  ended  the 
Macedonian  monarchy.  One  hundred  and  fifty-six  years 
after  Alexander's  death,  the  last  king  of  Macedon  was  led 
in  triumph  by  a  general  belonging  to  a  nation  of  which, 
probably,  the  Conqueror  had  scarcely  heard. 

The  results  of  these  wars  were  reaped  within  a  brief  period. 
The  Federal  Unions  of  Greece  were  dissolved.  Macedon  was 
divided  into  four  commonwealths,  and  finally,  under  pre- 
tence of  a  rebellion,  made  a  Eoman  province  (148  b.  c).  In 
the  same  year  that  Carthage  fell,  Corinth,*  the  great  seaport 

*  Mummius,  the  consul  who  took  Corinth,  which  Cicero  termed  "  The  eye  of 
Hellas,"  sent  its  wealth  of  statues  and  pictures  to  Rome.  It  is  said  that,  ignorant  of 
the  unique  value  of  these  works  gf  art,  he  agreed  with  the  captains  of  the  vessels  to 
furnish  others  in  place  of  any  they  should  lose  on  the  voyage.    One  can  but  remem- 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  237 

of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean,  was  sacked,  and  Greece  her- 
self, after  being  amused  for  a  time  with  the  semblance  of 
freedom,  was  organized  into  the  province  of  Achaia. 

Ssrrian  War  (192-190  b.  c). — '^Macedon  and  Greece 
proved  easy  stepping-stones  for  Rome  to  meddle  in  the  affairs 
of  Asia."  At  this  time  Anti'ochus  the  Great  governed  the 
kingdom  of  the  Seleucidae  (p.  155),  which  extended  from 
the  JEgean,  beyond  the  Tigris.  His  capital,  Antioch  on  the 
Orontes,  was  the  seat  of  Greek  culture,  and  one  of  the  chief 
cities  of  the  world.  He  was  not  unwilling  to  measure 
swords  with  the  Romans,  and  received  Hannibal  at  his  court 
with  marked  honor.  During  the  interval  between  the 
second  and  third  Macedonian  wars  the  ^tolians,  thinking 
themselves  badly  used  by  the  Romans,  invited  Antiochus  to 
come  over  to  their  help.  He  despised  the  wise  counsel  and 
military  skill  of  Hannibal,  and,  appearing  in  Greece  with 
only  ten  thousand  men, was  easily  defeated  by  the  Romans  at 
Thermopyloe.  The  next  year,  L.  Scipio  (note,  p.  235)  fol- 
lowed him  into  Asia,  and  overthrew  his  power  on  the  field 
of  Magnesia  (190  B.C.). 

The  great  empire  of  the  Seleucidae  now  shrank  to  the 
kingdom  of  Syria.  Though  the  Romans  did  not  at  present 
assume  formal  control  of  their  conquest,  yet,  by  a  shrewd 
policy  of  weakening  the  powerful  states,  playing  off  small 
ones  against  one  another,  supporting  one  of  the  two  rival  fac- 
tions, and  favoring  their  allies,  they  taught  the  Greek  cities 
in  Asia  Minor  to  look  up  to  the  great  central  power  on  the 
Tiber  just  as,  by  the  same  tortuous  course,  they  had  led 
Greece  and  Macedon  to  do.  Thus  the  Romans  aided  Per- 
gamus,  and  enlarged  its  territories,  because  its  king  helped 
them  against  Antiochus.     Finally,  when  Attains  III.  died, 

ber,  however,  that  this  ignorant  plebeian  maintained  his  honesty,  and  kept  none  of 
the  rich  spoils  for  himself. 


238  BOME.  [133B.C. 

he  left  that  country  by  will  to  the  Romans.  So  Eome  got 
her  first  Asiatic  province  (133  b.  c). 

War  in  Spain. — After  the  capture  of  Carthage  and 
Corinth,  Rome  continued  her  efforts  to  subdue  Spain.  The 
rugged  nature  of  the  country,  and  the  braverv  of  the  inhab- 
itants, made  the  struggle  a  doubtful  one.  The  town  of 
Numantia  held  out  long  against  the  younger  Scipio  (note, 
p.  235).  Finally,  in  despair,  the  people  set  fire  to  the  place 
and  threw  themselves  into  the  flames.  When  the  Romans 
forced  an  entrance  through  the  walls,  they  found  silence  and 
desolation  withm.  Spain  now  became  a  Roman  province — 
the  same  year  of  Attalus's  bequest,  and  thirteen  years  after 
the  fall  of  Carthage  and  Corinth. 

The  Roman  Empire  (133  b.  c.)  included  southern 
Europe  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Bosporus,  and  a  part  of 
northern  Africa  ;  while  Syria,  Egypt,  and  Asia  Minor  were 
practically  its  dependencies.  The  Mediterranean  Sea  was  a 
"  Roman  lake,"  and  Rome  ivas  mistress  of  the  civilized  world. 
Henceforth  her  wars  were  principally  with  barbarians. 

EflFect  of  these  Conquests. — Italy  had  formerly  been 
covered  with  little  farms  of  a  few  acres  each,  which  the  in- 
dustrious, frugal  Romans  cultivated  with  their  own  hands. 
When  Hannibal  swept  the  country  with  fire  and  sword,  he 
destroyed  these  comfortable,  rural  homes  throughout  entire 
districts.  The  people,  unable  to  get  a  living,  flocked  to 
Rome.  There,  humored,  flattered,  and  fed  by  every  dema- 
gogue who  wished  their  votes,  they  sank  into  a  mere  mob. 
The  Roman  race  itself  was  fast  becoming  extinct.*    It  had 

*  "  At  the  time  when  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  paid  homage  to  the  Romans,  this 
people  was  hecoming  extinguished,  consumed  by  the  double  action  of  eternal  war, 
and  of  a  devouring  system  of  legislation  ;  it  was  disappearing  from  Italy.  The  Ro- 
man, passing  his  life  in  camps,  beyond  the  seas,  rarely  returnei  to  visit  his  little  field. 
He  had  inmost  cases,  indeed,  no  land  or  shelter  at  all,  nor  any  other  domestic  gods 
than  the  eagles  of  the  legions.  An  exchange  was  becoming  established  between  Italy 
and  the  provinces.    Italy  sent  her  children  to  die  in  distant  lands,  and  received  in 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  339 

perished  on  its  hundred  battle-fields.  Kome  was  inhabited 
by  a  motley  population  from  all  lands,  who  poorly  filled  the 
place  of  her  ancient  heroes. 

The  captives  in  these  various  wars  had  been  sold  as  slaves, 
and  the  nobles,  who  had  secured  most  of  the  land,  worked  it 
by  their  unpaid  labor.  Everywhere  in  the  fields  were  gangs 
of  men,  whose  only  crime  was  that  they  had  fought  for  their 
homes,  tied  together  with  chains  ;  and,  tending  the  flocks, 
were  gaunt,  shaggy  wretches,  carrying  the  goad  in  hands 
which  had  once  wielded  the  sword. 

The  riches  of  Syracuse,  Carthage,  Macedonia,  Greece,  and 
Asia  poured  into  Rome.  Men  who  went  to  foreign  wars 
as  poor  soldiers  came  back  with  enormous  riches— the 
spoils  of  sacked  cities.  The  nobles  were  rich  beyond  every 
dream  of  republican  Rome.  But,  meanwhile,  the  poor  grew 
poorer  yet,  and  the  curse  of  poverty  ate  deeper  into  the 
state. 

A  few  wealthy  families  governed  the  senate  and  filled  all 
the  offices.  Thus  a  new  nobility,  founded  on  money  alone, 
had  grown  up  and  become  all-powerful.  It  was  customary 
for  a  candidate  to  amuse  the  people  with  costly  games,  and 
none  but  the  rich  could  afford  the  expense.  The  consul,  at 
the  end  of  his  year  of  office,  was  usually  appointed  governor 
of  a  province,  where  out  of  an  oppressed  people  he  could 
recompense  himself  for  all  his  losses.  To  keep  the  Roman 
populace  in  good  humor,  he  would  send  back  gifts  of  grain, 
and,  if  any  complaint  was  made  of  his  injustice  and  robbery, 
he  could  easily  bribe  the  judges  and  senators,  who  were 
anxious  only  for  the  same  chance  which  he  had. 

compensation  millions  of  slaves.  Thus  a  new  people  succeeded  to  the  ahsent  or 
destroyed  Roman  people.  Slaves  took  the  place  of  masters,  proudly  occupied  the 
Forum,  and  in  their  fantastic  saturnalia  governed  by  their  decrees  the  Latins  and  the 
Italians,  who  filled  the  legions.  It  was  soon  no  longer  a  question  where  were  the 
plebeians  of  Rome.  They  had  left  their  bones  on  every  shore.  Camps,  umc,  and 
immortal  roads— these  were  all  that  remained  of  th^m, "—Mkhelet, 


240 


ROME. 


In  the  early  days  of  the  republic,  the  soldier  was  a  citizen 
who  went  forth  to  fight  his  country's  battles,  and,  returning 
home,  settled  down  again  upon  his  little  farm,  contented 
and  happy.  Military  life  had  now  become  a  profession. 
Patriotism  was  almost  a  forgotten  virtue,  and  the  soldier 
fought  for  plunder  and  glory.  In  the  wake  of  the  army 
followed  a  crowd  of  venal  traders,  who  bought  up  the  booty; 
contractors,  who  "farmed"  the  revenues  of  the  provinces; 
and  usurers,  who  preyed  on  the  necessities  of  all.  These 
rich  army-followers  were  known  as  knights  {equites),  since 
in  the  early  days  of  Eome  the  richest  men  fought  on  horse- 
back. They  rarely  took  part  in  any  war,  but  only  reaped 
its  advantages.  The  presents  of  foreign  kings  were  no 
longer  refused  at  Rome  ;  her  generals 
and  statesmen  -  demanded  money  wher- 
ever they  went.  Well  might  Scipio 
Africanus,  instead  of   praying  to  the 


ROMAN    SOtUIEBS. 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  241 

gods,  as  was  the  custom,  to  increase  the  state,  beg  them  to 
preserve  it ! 

In  this  general  decadence  the  fine  moral  fibre  of  the  nation 
lost  its  vigor.  First,  the  people  left  their  own  gods  and  took 
up  foreign  ones.  As  the  ancients  had  no  idea  of  a  common 
god  of  all  nations,  such  a  desertion  of  their  patron  deities 
was  full  of  significance.  It  ended  in  a  general  scepticism 
and  neglect  of  religious  rites  and  w^orship.  In  addition,  the 
Eomans  became  cruel  and  unjust.  Nothing  showed  this 
more  clearly  than  their  refusal  to  grant  the  Eoraan  franchise 
to  the  Latin  cities,  which  stood  by  them  so  faithfully  during 
Hannibal's  invasion.  Yet  there  were  great  men  in  Rome, 
and  the  ensuing  centuries  were  the  palmiest  of  her  history. 


THE    CIVIL    WAES. 

Now  began  a  century  of  civil  strife,  during  which  the  old 
respect  for  laws  became  weak,  and  parties  obtained  their  end 
by  bribery  and  bloodshed. 

The  Gracchi. — The  tribune  Tiberius  Gracchus,*  per- 
ceiving the  peril  of  the  state,  secured  a  new  agrarian  law 
(p.  216),  directing  the  public  land  to  be  assigned  in  small 
farms  to  the  needy,  so  as  to  give  every  man  a  homestead ; 
and,  in  addition,  he  proposed  to  divide  the  treasures  of 
Attains  among  those  who  received  land,  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  build  houses  and  buy  cattle.  But  the  oligarchs 
aroused  a  mob  by  which  Gracchus  was  assassinated. 

*  Cornelia,  the  mother  of  Tiberius  and  Caius  Gracchus,  was  the  daughter  of  Scipio 
Africanus  the  Elder  (note,  p.  235).  Left  a  widow,  she  was  offered  marriage  with  the 
king  of  Egypt,  but  preferred  to  devote  herself  to  the  education  of  her  children. 
When  a  rich  friend  once  exhibited  to  her  a  cabinet  of  rare  gems,  she  called  in  her 
two  sons,  saying,  "  These  are  my  jewels."  Her  statue  bore  the  inscription  by  which 
she  wished  to  be  known,  "  The  mother  of  the  Gracchi."— Tiberius  was  the  grandson 
of  the  Conqueror  of  Hannibal,  the  son-in-law  of  Appiue  Claudias,  and  the  l?rother-iu- 
law  of  the  Destroyer  of  Carthage, 


242  ROME 


[123  B.  c. 


About  ten  years  later,  his  brother  Caius  tried  to  carry  out 
the  same  reform,  by  distributing  grain  to  the  poor  at  a 
nominal  price  (the  "  Eoman  poor-law  "),  by  choosing  juries 
from  the  knights  instead  of  the  senators,  and  by  planting 
in  conquered  territories  colonies  of  men  who  had  no  work 
at  home.  All  went  well  until  he  sought  to  confer  the 
Eoman  franchise  upon  the  Latins.  Then  a  riot  was  raised, 
and  Caius  was  killed  by  a  faithful  slave  to  prevent  his  falling 
into  the  hands,  of  his  enemies. 

With  the  G-racchi  perished  the  freedom  of  the  republic ; 
henceforth  the  corrupt  aristocracy  was  supreme. 

Jugurtha  (118-104  B.C.)  having  usurped  the  throne  of 
Numidia,  long  maintained  his  place  by  conferring  lavish 
bribes  upon  the  senators.  His  gold  conquered  every  army 
sent  against  him,  and  he  declared  that  Rome  itself  could  be 
had  for  money.  He  was  finally  overpowered  by  the  consul 
Caius  Marius,*  and,  after  adorning  the  victor's  triumph  at 
Rome,  thrown  into  the  Mamertine  prison  to  perish,  f 

The  Cimbri  and  Teutones  (113-101  B.C.),  the  van- 
guard of  those  northern  hosts  that  were  yet  to  overrun  the 
empire,  were  now  moving  south,  half  a  million  strong, 
spreading  dismay  and  ruin  in  their  track.  Six  different 
Roman  armies  tried  in  vain  to  stay  their  advance.  At  Orange 
alone  eighty  thousand  Romans  fell.  In  this  emergency,  the 
senate  appealed  to  Marius,  who,  contrary  to  law,  was  again 
and  again  reinstated  consul.  He  annihilated  the  Teutones 
at  Aix,  and,  the  next  year,  the  Cimbri  at  VerceUce.  In  the 
latter  engagement,  the  men  composing  the  outer  line  of  the 

*  Lucius  Cornelius  Sulla,  the  Roman  questor  (p.  243),  captured  Jugurtha  by- 
treachery.  Claiming  that  he  was  the  real  hero  of  this  war,  he  had  a  ring  engraved 
which  i-epresented  Jugurtha's  surrender  to  him.  Marius  and  Sulla  were  henceforth 
bitter  rivals. 

+  This  famous  dungeon  is  still  shown  the  traveler  at  Rome.  It  is  an  underground 
vault,  built  of  rough  stones.  The  only  opening  is  by  a  hole  at  the  top.  As  Jugurtha, 
accustomed  to  the  heat  of  an  African  sun,  was  lowered  into  this  dismal  grave,  he 
exclaimed,  with  chattering  teeth,  "  Ah,  what  a  cold  bath  they  are  giving  me ! " 


lOlB.c]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  243 

barbarian  army  were  fastened  together  with  chains,  the  whole 
making  a  solid  mass  three  miles  square.  The  Roman  broad- 
sword mercilessly  hewed  its  way  through  this  struggling 
crowd.  The  Gallic  women,  in  despair,  strangled  their 
children,  and  then  threw  themselves  beneath  the  wheels  of 
their  wagons.     The  very  dogs  fought  to  the  death. 

Rome  was  saved  in  her  second  great  peril  from  barbarians. 
Marius  was  hailed  as  the  "third  founder  of  the  city." 

Social  War  (90-88  b.  c). — Drusus,  a  tribune,  having 
proposed*  that  the  Italians  should  be  granted  the  coveted 
citizenship,  was  murdered  the  very  day  a  vote  was  to  be 
taken  upon  the  measure.  On  hearing  this,  many  of  the 
Italian  cities,  headed  by  the  Marsians,  took  up  arms.  The 
veteran  legions,  which  had  conquered  the  world,  now  faced 
each  other  on  the  battle-field.  The  struggle  cost  three  hun- 
dred thousand  lives.  Houses  were  burned  and  plantations 
wasted  as  in  Hannibal's  time.  In  the  end,  Rome  jj^as  forced 
to  allow  the  Italians  to  become  citizens. 

First  Mithridatic  War  (88-84  b.  c.).— Just  before  the 
close  of  this  bloody  struggle,  news  came  of  the  massacre  of 
eighty  thousand  Romans  and  Italians  residing  in  the  towns 
of  Asia  Minor.  Mithri dates  the  Great,  king  of  Pontus, 
and  a  man  of  remarkable  energy  and  genius,  had  pro- 
claimed himself  the  deliverer  of  Asia  from  the  Roman 
yoke,  and  kindled  the  fires  of  insurrection  as  far  westward 
as  Greece.  The  war  against  the  Pontic  monarch  was  confided 
to  Sulla,  who  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Roman  aristocracy. 
But  Marius,  the  favorite  leader  of  the  people,  by  unscrupu- 
lous means  wrested  the  command  from  his  rival.  There- 
upon Sulla  entered  Rome  at  the  head  of  the  army.  For  the 
first  time,  civil  war  raged  within  the  walls  of  the  city. 
Marius  was  driven  into  exile.*      Sulla  then  crossed  into 

*  Marius,  after  many  romantic  adventures,  was  thrown  into  prison  at  Min- 


244  ROME.  [87  B.  c. 

Greece.  He  carried  on  fiye  campaigns,  mainly  at  his  private 
expense,  and  finally  restored  peace  on  the  condition  that 
Mithridates  should  give  up  his  conquests  and  his  fleet. 

Return  of  Marius. — Meanwhile  Cinna,  one  of  the  two 
consuls  at  Rome,  recalled  Marius,  and  together  they  entered 
the  city  with  a  body  of  men  composed  of  the  very  dregs  of 
Italy.  The  nobles  and  the  friends  of  Sulla  trembled  at  this 
triumph  of  the  democracy.  Marius  now  took  a  fearful 
vengeance  for  all  he  had  suffered.  He  closed  the  gates,  and 
went  about  with  a  body  of  slaves,  who  slaughtered  every 
man  at  whom  he  pointed  his  finger.  The  principal  senators 
were  slain.  The  high-priest  of  Jupiter  was  massacred  at  the 
altar.  The  consul  Octavius  was  struck  down  in  his  curule- 
chair.  The  head  of  Antonius,  the  orator,  being  brought  to 
Marius  as  he  sat  at  supper,  he  received  it  with  joy,  and 
embraced  the  murderer.  Finally,  the  monster  had  himself 
declared  (t)nsul,  now  the  seventh  time.  Eighteen  days  after, 
he  died  **  drunk  with  blood  and  wine."     (86  b.  c.) 

Sulla's  Proscriptions. — Three  years  passed,  when  the 
hero  of  the  Mithridatic  War  returned  to  Italy  with  his  vic- 
torious army.  His  progress  was  disputed  by  the  remains  of 
the  Marian  party  and  the  Samnites,  who  had  not  laid  down 
their  arms  after  the  Social  War  (p.  243).  Sulla,  however, 
swept  aside  their  forces,  and  soon  all  Italy  was  prostrate 
before  him.  It  was  now  the  turn  for  the  plebeians  and  the 
friends  of  Marius  to  fear.  As  Sulla  met  the  senate,  cries 
were  heard  in  the  neighboring  circus.  The  senators  sprang 
from  their  seats  in  alarm.    Sulla  bade  them  be  quiet,  remark- 

turase.  One  day  a  Cimbrian  slave  entered  his  cell  to  put  him  to  death.  The  old  man 
turned  upon  him  with  flashing  eye,  and  shouted,"  Barest  thou  kill  Caius  Marius  1 " 
The  Gaul,  frightened  at  the  voice  of  his  nation's  destroyer,  dropped  his  sword  and 
fled.  Marius  was  soon  set  free  by  the  sympathizing  people,  whereupon  he  crossed 
into  Africa.'  Receiving  there  an  order  from  the  praetor  to  leave  the  province,  he  sent 
back  the  well-known  reply,  "  Tell  Sextilius  that  you  have  seen  Caius  Marius  sitting 
in  exile  among  the  ruins  of  Carthage." 


82b.c.]  the    political   history.  245 

ing,  ^'  It  is  only  some  wretches  undergoing  the  punishment 
they  deserve."  The  ^Svretches"  were  six  thousand  of  the 
Marian  party,  who  were  butchered  in  cold  blood.  "  The 
porch  of  Sulla's  house,"  says  Collier,  *^was  soon  full  of 
heads."  Daily  proscription- lists  were  made  out  of  those 
doomed  to  die,  and  the  assassins  were  rewarded  from  the 
property  of  their  victims.  Wealth  became  a  crime  when 
murder  was  gain.  *^  Alas,"  exclaimed  one,  ^^my  villa  is  my 
destruction."  In  all  the  disaffected  Italian  cities  the  same 
bloody  work  went  on.  Whole  districts  were  confiscated  to 
make  room  for  colonies  of  Sulla's  legions.  He  had  liimseK 
declared  perpetual  dictator — an  office  unused  since  the  Punic 
Wars.  He  deprived  the  tribunes  of  the  right  of  proposing 
laws,  and  sought  to  restore  the  good  old  times  when,  the 
patricians  held  power,  thus  undoing  the  reforms  of  centuries. 
To  the  surprise  of  all,  however,  he  suddenly  retired  to  private 
life,  and  gave  himself  up  to  luxurious  ease.  The  civil  wars 
of  Marius  and  Sulla  had  cost  Italy  the  lives  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  citizens. 

Sertorius,  one  of  the  Marian  party,  betook  himself  to 
Spain,  gained  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  Lusitanians, 
established  among  them  a  miniature  Koman  republic,  and 
for  seven  years  defeated  every  army  sent  against  him.  Even 
Pompey  the  Great  was  held  in  check.  Treachery  at  last 
freed  Eome  from  its  enemy,  Sertorius  being  slain  at  a 
banquet. 

Gladiatorial  War  (73-71  b.  c). — A  party  of  gladiators 
under  Spartacus,  having  escaped  from  a  training-school  at 
Capua,  took  refuge  in  the  crater  of  Vesuvius.  Thither 
flocked  slaves,  peasants,  and  pirates,  until  they  were  strong 
enough  to  defeat  consular  armies,  and  for  two  years  to  rav- 
age Italy  from  the  Alps  to  the  peninsula.  Crassus  finally 
killed  the  rebel  leader  in  a  desperate  battle,  and  put  his  fol- 


246  ROME.  [71B.C. 

lowers  to  flight.  A  body  of  five  thousand,  trying  to  escape 
into  Gaul,  fell  in  with  Pompey  the  Great  as  he  was  returning 
from  Spain,  and  were  cut  to  pieces. 

Pirates  in  these  troublous  times  infested  the  Mediter- 
ranean, so  as  to  interfere  with  trade  and  stop  the  supply  of 
provisions  at  Eome.  The  whole  coast  of  Italy  was  in  con- 
tinual alarm.  Parties  of  robbers  landing  dragged  rich  pro- 
prietors from  their  villas  and  seized  high  ofiicials,  to  hold 
them  for  ransom.  Pompey,  in  a  brilliant  campaign  of 
ninety  days,  cleared  the  seas  of  these  buccaneers,  and  restored 
order. 

Great  Mithridatic  War  (74-63  b.  c.).— During  Sulla's 
life  the  Roman  governor  in  Asia  causelessly  attacked  Mithri- 
dates,  but  being  defeated  and  Sulla  peremptorily  ordering 
him  to  desist,  this  Second  Mithridatic  War  soon  ceased. 
The  Third  or  Great  War  broke  out  after  the  dictator's 
death.  The  king  of  Bithynia  having  bequeathed  his  pos- 
sessions to  the  Romans,  Mithridates  justly  dreaded  this  ad- 
vance of  his  enemies  toward  his  own  boundaries,  and  took 
up  arms  to  prevent  it.  The  Roman  consul,  Lucullus,  de- 
feated the  Pontic  king,  and  drove  him  to  the  court  of  his 
son-in-law  Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia,  who  espoused  his 
cause.  Lucullus  next  overcame  the  allied  monarchs.  Mean- 
while this  wise  general  sought  to  reconcile  the  Asiatics  to  the 
Roman  government  by  legislative  reforms,  by  a  mild  and 
just  rule,  and  especially  by  checking  the  exactions  of  the 
farmers  of  the  revenue.  The  soldiers  of  his  own  army, 
intent  on  plunder,  and  the  equites  at  Rome  deprived  of 
their  profits,  were  incensed  against  him,  and  secured  his 
recall. 

Pompey  was  now  granted  the  power  of  a  dictator  in  the 
East.*    Jle  made  an  alliance  with  the  king  of  Parthia,  thus 

♦  Cicero  advocated  this  measure  in  the  familiar  oration,  Pro  Lege  Manilia. 


GoB.c]  THE     POLITieAL    HISTORY.  Ml 

threatening  Mithridates  by  an  enemy  in  the  rear.  Then, 
forcing  the  Pontic  monarch  into  a  battle,  he  defeated  and, 
at  last,  drove  him  beyond  the  Caucasus.  Pompey,  returning, 
reduced  Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  Palestine. 

The  spirit  of  Mithridates  was  unbroken,  in  spite  of  the 
loss  of  his  kingdom.  He  was  meditating  a  march  around 
the  Euxine,  and  an  invasion  of  Italy  from  the  northeast, 
when,  alarmed  at  the  treachery  of  his  son,  he  took  poison, 
and  died  a  victim  of  ingratitude.  By  his  genius  and  courage, 
he  had  maintained  the  struggle  with  the  Komans  for  twenty- 
five  years.  *  On  reaching  Rome,  Pompey  received  a  two-days 
triumph.  Before  his  chariot,  walked  three  hundred  and 
twenty-four  captive  princes;  and  twenty  thousand  talents 
were  deposited  in  the  treasury  as  the  spoils  of  conquest. 
Pom-pey  was  now  at  the  height  of  his  popularity,  and  might 
have  usurped  supreme  power,  but  he  lacked  the  energy  and 
determination. 

Catiline's  Conspiracy  (63  B.C.). — During  Pompey's  ab- 
sence at  the  East,  Catiline,  an  abandoned  young  nobleman, 
had  formed  a  wide-spread  plot  to  murder  the  consuls,  fire 
the  city,  and  overthrow  the  government.  Cicero,  the 
orator^  exposed  the  conspiracy,  f  Whereupon,  Catiline  fled, 
and  was  soon  after  slain,  fighting  at  the  head  of  a  band  of 
desperadoes. 

The  chief  men  of  Rome  now  were  Pompey,  Crassus, 

*  The  armor  which  fitted  the  gigantic  frame  of  Mithridates  excited  the  wonder 
alike  of  Asiatic  and  Italian.  As  a  runner,  he  overtook  the  fleetest  deer  ;  as  a  rider, 
he  broke  the  wildest  steed  ;  as  a  charioteer,  he  drove  sixteen-in-hand  ;  and,  as  a 
hunter,  he  hit  his  game  with  his  horse  at  full  o;allop.  He  kept  Greek  poets,  historians, 
and  philosophers  at  his  court,  and  gave  prizes,  not  only  to  the  greatest  eater  and 
drinker,  but  to  the  merriest  jester  and  the  best  singer.  He  ruled  the  twenty-two 
nations  of  his  realm  without  the  aid  of  an  interpreter.  He  experimented  on  poisons 
and  sought  to  harden  his  system  to  their  effect.  One  day  he  disappeared  from  the 
palace  and  was  absent  for  months.  On  his  return,  it  appeared  that  he  had  wandered 
incognito  through  Asia  Minor,  studying  the  people  and  countiy. 

t  The  orations  which  Cicero  pronounced  at  this  time  against  Catiline  are  master- 
pieces of  impassioned  rhetoric,  and  are  still  studied  by  every  Latin  scholar. 


ROME. 


[60  B.  c. 


CAIUS  JULIUS  CyESAR. 


ished,  and  Cato  sent  to  Cyprus. 


Caesar,*  Cicero,  and  Cato 
the  Stoic — a  great  grand- 
son of  the  Censor.  The 
first  three  formed  a  league, 
known  as  the  Triumvirate 
(60  B.  c).  To  cement  this 
union,  Pompey  married 
Julia,  Caesar's  only  daugh- 
ter. The  triumvirs  had 
everj^hing  their  own  way. 
Caesar  obtained  the  con- 
sulship, and,  afterward,  an 
appointment  as  goyernor 
of  Gaul ;  Cicero  was  ban- 


*  Caesar  was  born  100  b.  c.  (according  to  Mommsen,  102  b.  c).  A  patrician,  he  was 
yet  a  friend  of  the  people.  His  aunt  was  married  to  Marius  ;  his  wife  Cornelia  was  the 
daughter  of  Cinna.  During  Sulla's  proscription,  he  refused  to  divorce  his  wife  at  the 
bidding  of  the  dictator,  and  only  the  intercession  of  powerful  friends  saved  his  life. 
Sulla  detected  the  character  of  this  youth  of  eighteen  years,  and  declared,  "  There  is 
more  than  one  Marius  hid  in  him."  While  on  his  way  to  Rhodes  to  study  oratory,  he 
was  taken  prisoner  by  pirates,  but  he  acted  more  like  their  leader  than  captive,  and,  on 
being  ransomed,  headed  a  party  which  crucified  them  all.  Having  been  elected  pontiff 
during  his  absence  at  the  East,  he  returned  to  Rome,  He  now  became  in  succession 
quaestor,  aedile,  and  i)ontifex  maximus.  His  affable  manners  and  boundless  generosity 
won  all  hearts.  As  aedile,  a  part  of  his  duty  was  to  furnish  amusement  to  the  people, 
and  he  exhibited  three  hundred  and  twenty  pairs  of  gladiators,  clad  in  silver  armor. 
His  debts  became  enormous,  the  heaviest  creditor  being  the  rich  Crassus,  to  whom 
half  the  senators  are  said  to  have  owed  money.  Securing  an  appointment  as  praetor, 
at  the  termination  of  that  office,  according  to  the  custom,  he  obtained  a  province. 
Selecting  Spain,  he  there  recruited  his  wasted  fortune,  and  gained  some  military 
prominence.  He  then  came  back  to  Rome,  relinquishing  a  triumph  in  order  to  enter 
the  city  and  stand  for  the  consulship.  This  gained,  his  next  step  was  to  secure  a  field 
where  he  could  train  an  army,  by  whose  help  he  might  become  master  of  Rome. 

It  is  a  strange  sight,  indeed,  to  witness  this  spendthrift,  pale  and  worn  with  the 
excesses  of  the  capital,  fighting  at  the  head  of  his  legions,  swimming  rivers,  plunging 
through  morasses,  and  climbing  mountains— the  hardiest  of  the  hardy  and  the  bravest 
of  the  brave.  But  it  is  stranger  still  to  think  of  this  great  general  and  statesman  as  a 
literary  man.  Even  when  riding  in  his  litter  or  resting,  he  was  still  reading  or  writ- 
ing, and  often  at  the  same  time  dictating  to  from  four  to  seven  amanuenses.  Besides 
his  famous  Commentaries,  published  in  the  very  midst  of  his  eventful  career,  he 
composed  works  on  rhetoric  and  grammar,  as  well  as  tragedies,  lyrics,  etc.  His  style 
is  pure  and  natural,  and  the  polished  smoothness  of  his  sentences  gives  no  hint  of 
the  stormy  scenes  amid  which  they  were  formed. 


58  B.C.] 


THE     POLITICAL    HISTORY. 


^49 


C^SAR  remained  in  Gaul 
about  nine  years.  He  re- 
duced the  entire  country, 
crossed  the  Rhine,  carrying 
the  Roman  arms  into  Ger- 
many for  the  first  time, 
and  twice  invaded  Britain 
—an  island  until  then  un- 
known in  Italy  except  by 
name.  Not  only  were  the 
three  hundred  tribes  of 
Transalpine  Gaul  thorough- 
ly subdued,  but  they  were 
made  content  with  Caesar's 
rule.  He  became  their  civ- 
ilizer,  building  roads  and 
introducing  Roman  laws, 
institutions,  manners  and 
customs.  Moreover,  he 
trained  an  army  that  knew 
no  mind  or  will  except  that 
of  its  great  general.  Mean- 
while, Caesar's  friends  in 
Rome,  with  the  Gallic  spoils 
which  he  freely  sent  them, 
bribed  and  dazzled  and  in- 
trigued to  sustain  their 
master's  power,  and  secure 
him  the  next  consulship. 


Crassus  was  chosen 
joint-consul  with  Pompey 
(56  B.  c.)  ;  he  secured  the 
province  of  Syria.  Eager 
to  obtain  the  boundless 
treasures  of  the  East,  he 
set  out  upon  an  expedition 
against  Parthia.  On  the 
way,  he  plundered  the  tem- 
ple at  Jerusalem,  .While 
crossing  the  scorching 
plains  beyond  the  Eu- 
phrates, not  far  from  Char- 
rae  (the  Haran  of  the 
Bible),  he  was  suddenly 
surrounded  by  clouds  of 
Parthian  horsemen.  Ro- 
man valor  was  of  no  avail 
in  that  ceaseless  storm  of 
arrows.  During  the  retreat, 
Crassus  was  slain.  His 
head  was  carried  to  the 
Parthian  king,  who,  in  de- 
rision, ordered  it  to  be  filled 
with  molten,  gold.  The 
death  of  Crassus  ended  the 
Triumvirate. 


PoMPET,  after  a  time, 
was  elected  joint-consul 
with  Crassus, and,]ater,sole 
consul ;  he  obtained  the 
province  of  Gaul,  which  he 
governed  by  legates.  He 
now  ruled  Rome,  but  was 
bent  on  ruling  the  empire. 
The  death  of  his  wife  had 
severed  the  link  Avhich 
bound  him  to  the  conqueror 
of  Gaul.  He  accordingly 
joined  wdth  the  nobles, 
who  were  also  aJarmed  by 
Caesar's  brilliant  victories, 
and  the  strength  his  suc- 
cess gave  the  popular  party. 
A  law  was  therefore  passed 
ordering  Caesar  to  resign 
his  oflice  and  disband  his 
army  before  he  appeared 
to  sue  for  the  consulship. 
The  tribunes— Antony  and 
Cassius— who  supported 
Caesar,  were  driven  from 
the  senate.  They  fled  to 
his  camp,  and  demanded 
protection. 


Civil  War  between  Caesar  and  Pompey  (49  b.  c.).— 
Caesar  at  once  marched  upon  Eome.  Pompey  had  boasted 
that  he  had  only  to  stamp  his  foot,  and  an  army  would 
spring  from  the  ground ;  but  he  now  fled  to  Greece  with- 
out striking  a  blow.  In  sixty  days,  Caesar  was  master  of 
Italy.  The  decisive  struggle  between  the  two  rivals  took 
place  on  the  plain  of  Pharsalia  (48  B.C.).  Pompey  was 
beaten.  He  sought  refuge  in  Egypt,  where  he  was  treach- 
erously slain.  His  head  being  brought  to  Caesar,  the  con- 
queror wept  at  the  fate  of  his  former  friend. 

Caesar  now  placed  the  beautiful  Cleopatra  on  the  throne 
of  the  Ptolemies,  and,  marching  into  Syria,  humbled 
Pharnaces,  the  son  of  Mithridates,  so  quickly  that  he 
could  write  home  this  laconic  despatch,  Veni,  Vidi,  Vici 
(I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered).     Cato  and  other  Pompeian 


250  ROME.  [46  B.C. 

leaders  had  assembled  a  great  force  in  Africa,  whereupon 
Caesar  hurried  his  conquering  legions  thither,  and  at  Thapsus 
broke  down  all  opposition  (46  B.  c).  Cato,  in  despair  of  the 
republic,  fell  upon  his  sword.  The  sons  of  Pompey  rallied 
an  army  in  Spain,  but,  in  the  desperate  conflict  at  Munda, 
Caesar  blotted  the  broken  remains  of  their  party  out  of 
existence  (45  B.  c). 

Caesar  returned  to  Rome  before  this  final  struggle  in 
Spain.  A  four-days  triumph  reddened  the  sands"  of  the 
arena  with  the  blood  of  wild  beasts  and  gladiators.  Every 
citizen  received  a  present,  and  the  populace  regaled  them- 
selves at  a  banquet  spread  on  twenty-two  thousand  tables. 
The  joy  was  unalloyed  by  any  proscription.  The  adulation 
of  the  senate  surpassed  all  bounds. .  Caesar  was  created  dic- 
tator for  ten  years  and  censor  for  three,  and  his  statue  was 
placed  in  the  Capitol,  opposite  to  that  of  Jupiter. 

Caesar's  Government. — At  Caesar's  magic  touch,  order 
and  justice  sprang  into  new  life.  The  provinces  rejoiced  in 
an  honest  administration.  The  Gauls  obtained  seats  in  the 
senate,  and  it  was  Caesar's  design  to  have  all  the  provinces 
represented  in  that  body  by  their  chief  men.  The  calendar 
was  revised.*  The  distress  among  the  poor  was  relieved  by 
sending  eighty  thousand  colonists,  to  rebuild  Corinth  and 
Carthage.  The  number  of  claimants  upon  the  public  dis- 
tribution of  grain  was  reduced  over  one-half.  A  plan  was 
formed  of  digging  a  new  channel  for  the  Tiber  and  draining 
the  Pontine  marshes.  ]S"othing  was  too  vast  or  too  small 
for  the  comprehensive  mind  of  this  mighty  statesman.  He 
could  guard  the  boundaries  of  his  vast  empire  along  the 
Ehine,  Danube,  and  Euphrates  ;  look  after  the  paving  of  the 

*  The  Roman  year  contained  only  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  days,  and  the  mid- 
summer and  the  mid-winter  months  then  came  in  the  spring  and  the  fall.  Julius 
Ceesar  introduced  the  extra  day  of  leap  year,  and  July  was  named  after  him.  See 
Fmrteen  Weeks  in  Astronomy,  p.  295. 


44  B.  c] 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY. 


251 


Eoman  streets ;  and  listen  to  the  recitation  of  pieces  for 
prizes  at  the  theatres,  bestowing  the  wreath  upon  thcyictor, 
with  extempore  verse. 

Caesar's  Assassination  (44  b.  c). — Caesar,  now  dictator 
for  hfe,  was  desirous  of  being  king  in  name  as  in  fact.  While 
passing  through  the  streets  one  day,  he  was  hailed  king  ;  as 
the  crowd  murmured,  he  cried  out,  ^'I  am  not  king,  but 
Caesar.^'  Stilly  when  Mark  Antony,  the  consul  and  his  inti- 
mate friend,  at  a  festival,  offered  him  a  crown,  Caesar  seemed 
to  thrust  it  aside  reluctantly.  The  hatred  of  zealous 
republicans  was  excited,  and,  under  the  guise  of  a  love  of 
liberty  and  old  Eoman  virtue,  those  who  were  jealous  of 
Caesar  or  hated  him,  formed  a  conspiracy  for  his  assassination. 
Brutus  and  Cassius,  the  leaders,  chose  the  fifteenth  of  the 
ensuing  March  for  the  execution  of  the  deed.  As  the  day 
approached,  the  air  was  thick  with  rumors  ^f  approaching 
disaster.  A  famous  augur  warned  Caesar  to  beware  of  the 
Ides  *  of  March.  The  night  before,  his  wife  Calpurnia  was 
disturbed  by  an  ominous 
dream.  On  the  way  to  the 
senate-house  he  was  handed 
a  scroll  containing  the  de- 
tails of  the  plot,  but  in 
the  press  he  had  no  chance 
to  read  it.  When  the  con- 
spirators crowded  about 
him,  no  alarm  was  caused, 

■  1  X.  J  THE  ROMAN   EMBLEM. 

as  they  were  men  who  owed 

their  lives  to  his  leniency  and  their  fortunes  to  his  favor. 


*  In  the  Roman  calendar,  the  months  were  divided  into  thi'ee  parts—  Calends,  Ides, 
and  Nones.  The  Calends  commenced  on  the  first  of  each  month,  and  were  reckoned 
backward  into  the  preceding  month  to  the  Ides.  The  Nones  fell  on  the  seventh  of 
March,  May,  July,  and  October,  and  on  the  fifth  of  the  other  months.  The  Ides 
came  on  the  thirteenth  of  all  months  except  these  four,  when  they  were  the  fifteenth. 


252  ROME.  [44  B.C. 

Suddenly,  swords  gleamed  on  every  hand.  For  a  moment, 
the  great  soldier  defended  himself  with  the  sharp  point  of 
his  iron  pen.  Then,  catching  sight  of  the  loved  and  trusted 
Brutus,  he  exclaimed,  "Et  tu  Brute  !"  (And  thou,  too, 
Brutus  !)  and,  wrapping  his  mantle  about  his  face,  sank 
dead  at  the  foot  of  Pompey's  statue.  * 

The  result  was  very  different  from  what  the  assassins  had 
expected.  The  senate  rushed  out  horror-stricken  at  the  deed. 
The  reading  of  Caesar's  will,  in  which  he  gave  every  citizen 
three  hundred  sesterces  (over  ten  dollars),  and  threw  open 
his  splendid  gardens  across  the  Tiber  as  a  public  park,  roused 
the  popular  fury.  When  Antony  pronounced  the  funeral 
eulogy,  and,  finally,  held  up  Coesar's  rent  and  bloody  toga, 
the  mob  broke  through  every  restraint,  and  ran  Avith  torches 
to  burn  the  houses  of  the  murderers.  Brutus  and  Cassius 
fled  to  save  their  lives. 

Second  Triumvirate  (43  b.  c). — Antony  was  fast  get- 
ting power  into  his  hand,  when  there  arrived  at  Rome, 
Octavius,  Caesar's  great-nephew  and  heir.  He  received 
the  support  of  the  senate  and  of  Cicero,  who  denounced 
Antony  in  fiery  orations.  Antony  was  forced  into  exile, 
and   then,   twice    defeated    in    battle,    took    refuge   with 

*  Caesar's  brief  public  life— for  only  five  stirring  years  elapsed  from  his  entrance 
into  Italy  to  ills  assassination— was  full  of  dramatic  scenes.  Before  marching  upon 
Rome,  it  is  said  (though  research  stamps  it  as  doubtful)  that  he  stopped  at  the  Rubicon, 
the  boundary  between^liis  province  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  and  Italy,  and  hesitated  long. 
To  pass  it,  was  to  make  war  upon  the  republic.  At  last,  he  shouted,  "  The  die  is 
cast !  "  and  plunged  into  the  stream— When  he  had  crossed  into  Greece  in  pursuit  of 
Pompey,  he  became  impatient  at  Antony's  delay  in  bringing  over  the  rest  of  the 
army,  and,  disguising  himself,  attempted  to  return  across  the  Adriatic  in  a  small  boat. 
The  sea  ran  high,  and  the  crew  determined  to  put  back,  when  Caesar  shouted,  "  Go  on 
boldly,  fear  nothing,  thou  bearest  Caesar  and  his  fortune  !  "—At  the  battle  of  Phar- 
ealia,  he  ordered  his  men  to  aim  at  the  faces  of  Pompey's  cavalry.  The  Roman 
knights,  dismayed  at  this  attack  on  their  beauty,  quickly  fled  ;  after  the  victory, 
Caesar  rode  over  the  field  calling  upon  the  men  to  spare  the  Roman  citizens,  and  on 
reaching  Pompey's  tent  put  his  letters  in  the  fire  unread.— When  Caesar  learned  of  the 
death  of  Cato,  he  lamented  the  tragic  fate  of  such  high  integrity  and  virtue,  and  ex- 
claimed, '•  Cato,  I  envy  thee  thy  death,  since  thou  enviest  me  the  glory  of  saving  thy 
Ufel" 


48  BC]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  253 

Lepidus,  governor  of  a  part  of  Spain  and  Gaul.  Octavius 
returned  to  Eome,  won  the  favor  of  the  people,  and,  though 
a  youth  of  only  nineteen,  was  chosen  consul.  A  triumvi- 
rate, similar  to  the  one  seventeen  years  before,  was  now 
formed  between  Antony,  Octavius,  and  Lepidus.  The  bar- 
gain was  sealed  by  a  proscription  more  horrible  than  that  of 
Sulla.  Lepidus  sacrificed  his  brother,  Antony  his  uncle, 
and  Octavius  his  warm  supporter,  Cicero.  The  orator's 
head  having  been  brought  to  Rome,  Fulvia  thrust  her  golden 
bodkin  through  the  tongue  that  had  pronounced  the  Philip- 
pics against  her  husband  Antony. 

Battle  of  Philippi  (42  b.  c.).— Brutus  and  Cassius,  who 
had  gone  to  the  East,  raised  an  army  to  resist  this  new 
coalition.  The  triumvirs  pursued  them,  and  the  issue  was 
decided  on  the  field  of  Philippi.  Brutus*  and  Cassius 
were  defeated,  and,  in  despair,  committed  suicide.  Octavius 
and  Antony  divided  the  empire  between  them,  the  former 
taking  the  West,  and  the  latter  the  East.  Lepidus  received 
Africa,  but  was  soon  stripped  of  his  share  and  sent  back  to 
Rome. 

Antony  and  Cleopatra. — Antony  now  went  to  Tarsus, 
to  look  after  his  new  possessions.  Here,  Cleopatra  was 
summoned  to  answer  for  having  supported  Cassius  against 
the  triumvirs.    She  came,  captivated  Antony  by  her  charms, f 


*  Brutus,  before  this  battle,  was  disheartened.  The  triumvirs  had  proved  worse 
tyrants  than  he  could  ever  have  feared  Csesar  would  become.  He  and  Cassius  quar- 
reled bitterly.  His  wife,  Portia,  had  died  (according;  to  some  authorities)  broken- 
hearted at  the  calamities  which  had  befallen  her  country.  One  night,  as  he  was  sit- 
ting alone  in  his  tent,  musing  over  the  troubled  state  of  affairs,  he  suddenly  per- 
ceived a  gigantic  figure  standing  before  him.  He  was  startled,  but  exclaimed,  "  What 
art  thou,  and  for  what  purpose  art  thou  come  ? "  "I  am  thine  evil  genius,"  replied 
the  phantom ;  "  we  shall  meet  again  at  Philippi  1 " 

t  Cleopatra  ascended  the  Cydnus  in  a  galley  with  purple  sails.  The  oars,  inlaid 
with  silver,  moved  to  the  soft  music  of  flute  and  pipe.  She  reclined  under  a  gold- 
spangled  canopy,  attired  as  Venus,  and  attended  by  nymphs,  cupids,  and  graces. 
The  air  was  redolent  with  perfumes.  As  she  approached  Tarsus,  the  whole  city 
flocked  to  witness  the  magnificent  sight,  leaving  Antony  sitting  alone  in  the  tribunal. 


254  ROME.  [41B.C 

and  carried  him  to  Egypt.  They  passed  the  winter  in  the 
wildest  extravagance.  Breaking  away,  however,  for  a  time 
from  the  silken  chains  of  Cleopatra,  Antony,  upon  the 
death  of  Fulvia,  married  the  beautiful  and  noble  Octavia, 
sister  of  Octavius.  But,  at  the  first  opportunity,  he  went 
back  again  to  Alexandria,  where  he  laid  aside  the  dignity  of 
a  Eoman  citizen  and  assumed  the  dress  of  an  Egyptian 
monarch.*  Cleopatra  was  presented  with  several  provinces, 
and  became  the  real  ruler  of  the  East. 

Civil  War  between  Octavius  and  Antony  (31  b.c). — 
The  senate  at  last  declared  war  against  Cleopatra.  There- 
upon, Antony  divorced  Octavia  and  prepared  to  invade  Italy. 
The  rival  fleets  met  off  the  promontory  of  Ac' Hum.  Cleo- 
patra fled  with  her  ships  early  in  the  day.  Antony,  basely 
deserting  those  who  were  dying  for  his  cause,  followed  her. 
When  Octavius  entered  Egypt  (32  B.C.),  there  was  no  resist- 
ance. Antony,  in  despair,  stabbed  himself.  Cleopatra  in 
vain  tried  her  arts  of  fascination  upon  the  conqueror. 
Finally,  to  avoid  gracing  his  triumph  at  Kome,  she  put  an 
end  to  her  life,  according  to  the  common  story,  by  the  bite 
of  an  asp,  brought  in  a  basket  of  figs.  Thus  died  the  last 
of  the  Ptolemies. 

Result. — Egypt  now  became  a  province  of  Eome.  With 
the  battle  of  Actium,  ended  the  Roman  republic.  Caesar 
Octavius  was  the  undisputed  master  of  the  civilized  world. 
After  his  return  to  Italy,  he  received  the  title  of  Augustus, 
by  which  name  he  is  known  in  history.  The  Civil  Wars 
were  over. 

*  The  follies  and  wasteful  extravagance  of  their  mad  revels  at  Alexandria  almost 
surpass  belief.  One  day,  in  Antony's  kitchen,  there  are  said  to  have  been  eight  wild 
boars  roasting  whole,  so  arranged  as  to  be  ready  at  different  times,  that  his  dinner 
might  be  served  in  perfection  whenever  he  should  see  fit  to  order  it.  On  another 
occasion,  he  and  the  queen  vied  as  to  which  could  serve  the  more  expensive  banquet. 
Removing  a  magnificent  pearl  from  her  ear,  she  dissolved  it  io  vinegar,  and  swal- 
lowed the  priceless  draught. 


31  B.  C.J 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY. 


255 


IMPERIAL    ROME. 

Establishment  of  the  Empire. — After  the  clamor  of 
a  hundred  years,  a  sweet  silence  seemed  to  fall  upon  the 
earth.  The  temple  of  Janus  was  closed  for  the  second  time 
since  the  pious  Numa.  Warned  by  the  fate  of  Julius, 
Augustus  did  not  take  the  name  of  king,  nor  startle  the 
Roman  prejudices  by  any  sudden  seizure  of  authority.     He 


256  ROME.  [31  B.  c 

kept  up  all  the  forms  of  the  republic.  Every  ten  years,  he 
went  through  the  farce  of  laying  down  his  rank  as  chief  of 
the  army,  or  imperator — a  word  since  contracted  to  emperor. 
He  professed  himself  the  humble  servant  of  the  senate, 
while  he  really  exercised  absolute  power.  Gradually,  all  the 
offices  of  trust  were  centered  in  him.  He  became  at  once 
proconsul,  consul,  censor,  tribune,  and  high  priest.* 

Massacre  of  Varus  (9  a.  d.). — Germany,  under  the 
vigorous  rule  of  Drusus  and  Tiberius,  stepsons  of  Augustus, 
now  seemed  likely  to  become  as  thoroughly  Romanized 
as  Gaul  had  been.  {Brief  Hist.  France,  p.  11.)  Varus, 
governor  of  the  province,  thinking  the  conquest  complete, 
attempted  to  introduce  the  Latin  language  and  laws.  There- 
upon, Arminius,  a  noble,  freedom-loving  German,  aroused 
his  countrymen,  and  in  the  wilds  of  the  Teutoburg  Forest 
took  a  terrible  revenge  for  the  wrongs  they  had  suffered. 
Varus  and  his  entire  army  perished.  Dire  was  the  dismay 
at  Rome  when  news  came  of  this  disaster.  For  days, 
Augustus  wandered  through  his  palace,  beating  his  head 
against  the  wall,  and  crying,  "Varus,  give  me  back  my 
legions  ! "  Six  years  later,  the  whitened  bones  of  these  hap- 
less warriors  were  buried  by  Germanicus  (the  son  of  Drusus, 
and  step-son  of  Augustus),  but  with  all  his  genius  he  could 
not  restore  the  Roman  authority  in  Germany,  f 

The  Augustan  Age  (31  b.  C.-14  a.©.)  was,  however,  one 
of  general  peace  and  prosperity.     The  emperor  lived  unos- 


*  As  consul,  he  became  chief  magistrate  ;  as  censor,  he  could  decide  who  were  to 
be  senators  ;  as  tribune,  he  heard  appeals,  and  his  person  was  sacred  ;  as  imperator, 
he  commanded  the  army  ;  and,  as  pontifex  maximns,  or  chief  priest,  he  was  the  head 
of  the  national  religion.  These  were  powers  originally  belonging  to  the  king,  but 
which,  during  the  republic,  from  a  fear  of  centralization,  had  been  distributed  among 
different  persons.    Now  the  emperor  gathered  them  up  again. 

t  Creasy  reckons  this  among  the  twelve  decisive  battles  of  the  world.  "  Had 
Arminius'been  defeated,"  says  Arnold,  "  onr  German  ancestors  would  have  been  en- 
slaved or  exterminated,  and  the  great  English  nation  would  have  been  struck  out  of 
existence." 


14  A.  D.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  257 

tentatiouslj  in  his  house,  not  in  a  palace,  and  his  toga  was 
woven  bj  his  wife  Livia  and  her  maidens.  He  revived  the 
worship  of  the  gods.  His  chosen  friends  were  men  of 
letters.  He  beautified  Rome,  so  that  he  could  truly  boast 
that  he  "found  the  city  of  brick,  and  left  it  of  marble." 
There  was  now  no  fear  of  pirates  or  hostile  fleets,  and  grain 
came  in  plenty  from  Egypt.  The  people  were  amused  and 
fed  ;  hence  they  were  contented.  The  provinces  were  well 
governed,*  and  many  gained  Roman  citizenship.  A  single 
language  became  a  universal  bond  of  intercourse,  and  Rome 
began  her  work  of  civilization  and  education.  Wars  having 
so  nearly  ceased,  and  interest  in  politics  having  diminished, 
men  turned  their  thoughts  more  toward  literature,  art,  and 
religion.  ^ 

The  Birth  of  Christ,  the  central  figure  in  all  history, 
occurred  during  the  Avide-spread  peace  of  this  reign. 

The  Empire  was,  in  general,  bounded  by  the  Euphrates 
on  the  east,  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine  on  the  north,  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  west,  and  the  deserts  of  Africa  on  the 
south.  It  comprised  about  a  hundred  millions  of  people,  of 
perhaps  a  hundred  different  nations,  each  speaking  its  own 
language  and  worshipping  its  own  gods.  An  army  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  held  the  provinces  in  check, 
while  the  Praetorian  Guard  of  ten  thousand  protected  the 
person  of  the  emperor.  The  Mediterranean,  which  the 
Romans  proudly  called,  "  Our  ow^n  sea,"  served  as  a  natural 
highway  between  the  widely-sundered  parts  of  this  vast 
region,  while  the  Roman  roads,  straight  as  an  eagle's  flight, 
bound  every  portion  of  the  empire  to  its  center.  Every- 
where, the  emperor's  will  was  Ifiw.     His  smile  or  frown  was 

*  One  day  when  Aagnetus  was  sailing  in  the  Bay  of  Baiae,  a  Greek  ship  was  pass- 
ing. The  sailors,  perceiving  the  emperor,  stopped  their  vessel,  arrayed  themselves  in 
white  robes,  and  going  on  board  his  yacht,  offered  sacrifice  to  him  as  a  god,  saying, 
"  You  have  given  to  us  happiness.    You  have  secured  to  us  our  lives  and  our  goods," 


258 


ROME. 


[1st  cent.  a.  d. 


the  fortune  or  ruin  of  a  man,  a  city,  or  a  province.    His 
character  determined  the  prosperity  of  the  empire. 

Henceforth,  the  history  of  Rome  is  not  that  of  the  people, 
but  of  its  emperors.  *  In  the  following  pages,  a  brief  account 
is  given  of  the  principal  monarchs  only  ;  a  full  list  of  the 
emperors  may  be  found,  however,  on  page  311.  None  of 
the  early  emperors  was  followed  by  his  own  son,  but,  accord- 
ing to  the  Roman  law  of  adoption,  they  all  counted  as 
Caesars.  Nero  was  the  last  of  them  at  all  connected  with 
Augustus,  even  by  adoption,  though  the  emperors  called 
themselves  Caesar  and  Augustus  to  the  last.  After  the  death 
of  Augustus, 


COIN   OF  TIBERIUS   CAESAR. 


Tiberius  (1 4  a.  d.),  his  step-son,  secured  the  empire'  by 
a  decree  of  the  senate.    The  army  on  the  Rhine  would  have 


*  "  Of  the  sixty-two  emperors  from  Caesar  to  Constantine,  forty-two  were  murdered, 
three  committed  suicide,  two  abdicated  or  were  forced  to  abdicate,  one  was  killed  in 
a  rebellion,  one  was  drowned,  one  died  in  war,  one  died  it  is  not  known  how,  and  no 
more  than  eleven  died  in  the  way  of  nature.  Between  the  death  of  Caesar  and  the 
accession  of  Constantine,  three  hundred  and  nineteen  years  elapsed,  giving  to  each 
Caesar  an  average  reign  of  five  years  and  two  months.  Comparing  this  rate  of  im- 
perial mortality  against  the  usual  terms  of  royal  lives,  the  waste  appears  most  strik- 
ing. The  thirty-five  sovereigns  of  England  (omitting  Cromwell  as  not  affecting  the 
return)  since  the  Conquest  have  '  lived  in  the  purple '  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
years— an  average  of  over  twenty-two  years  and  five  months.  The  kings  of  France, 
from  Clovis  to  Louis  Philippe,  reigned,  on  the  average,  twenty-two  years  and  two 
months.  The  German  emperors,  from  the  accession  of  Arnulf  to  the  accession  of 
Francis  Joseph,  each  reigned  nineteen  years  and  three  months.  Even  the  czars  of 
Russia,  from  Fedor  to  Nicholas,  ruled  for  fourteen  years  and  ten  months  e&ch.''—Ath. 


14  A.  D.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  259 

gladly  given  the  throne  to  the  noble  Germanicus,  but 
he  declined  the  honor.  Jealous  of  his  kinsman,  Tiberius, 
it  is  thought,  afterward  removed  him  by  poison.  The 
new  emperor  ruled  for  a  time  with  much  ability,  yet  soon 
proved  to  be  a  gloomy  tyrant,*  and  finally  retired  to  the 
island  of  Caprese,  to  practice  in  secret  his  infamous  orgies. 
His  favorite,  the  cruel  and  ambitious  Sej'anus,  prefect  of 
the  Prgetorian  Guard,  remained  at  Rome  as  the  real  ruler, 
but,  having  conspired  against  his  master,  he  was  thrown 
into  the  Mamertine  prison  and  there  strangled.  Many  of 
the  best  citizens  fell  victims  to  the  emperor's  suspicious 
disposition,  and  all,  even  the  surviving  members  of  his  own 
family,  breathed  easier  when  news  came  of  his  sudden 
death. 

The  great  event  of  this  reign  was  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  f 
at  Jerusalem,  under  Pilate,  Eoman  jDrocurator  of  Judea. 

Caligula  J;  (37  a.  d.)  inherited  some  of  his  father's  virtues, 
but  he  was  weak-minded,  and  his  history  records  only  a 
madman's  freaks.  He  made  his  favorite  horse  a  consul,  and 
provided  him  a  golden  manger.  Any  one  at  whom  the 
emperor  nodded  his  head  or  pointed  his  finger  was  at  once 
executed.  ^'  Would,"  said  he,  *Hhat  all  the  people  at  Rome 
had  but  one  neck,  so  I  could  cut  it  off  at  a  single  blow." 

Nero  (54  a.  d.)  assassinated  his  mother  and  wife.  In  the 
midst  of  a  great  fire  which  destroyed  a  large  part  of  Rome, 
he  chanted  a  poem  to  the  music  of  his  lyre,  while  he 
watched  the  flames.  To  secure  himself  against  the  charge 
of  having  at  least  spread  the  fire,  he  ascribed  the  confla- 

*  His  character  resembled  that  of  Louis  XL    See  Brief  History  of  France,  p.  94. 

+  Over  his  cross  was  an  inscription  in  three  languages,  significant  of  the  three 
best  developments  then  known  of  the  human  race — Roman  law,  Gbbek  MmD,  and 
Hebrew  faith. 

X  Caius,  son  of  GennanicusandAgrip])ina — grand-flanghter  of  Augustus— received 
from  the  soldiers  the  nickname  of  Caligula,  by  which  he  is  always  known,  because 
he  wore  little  boots  {caligulce)  while  with  his  father  in  camp  on  the  Rhine. 


260  ROME.  [1st  cent.  a.  d 

gration  to  the  Christians.  These  were  cruelly  persecuted,* 
St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter,  according  to  tradition,  being  mar- 
tyred at  this  time.  In  rebuilding  the  city,  Nero  substi- 
tuted broad  streets  for  the  winding  lanes  in  the  hollow 
between  the  seven  hills,  and  erected,  in  place  of  unsightly 
piles  of  brick  and  wood,  handsome  stone  buildings,  each 
block  surrounded  by  a  colonnade. 


COIN   OF  NERO. 


Vespasian  (69  a.  d.)  was  made  emperor  by  his  army  in 
Judea.  An  old-fashioned  Roman,  he  sought  to  revive  the 
ancient  virtues  of  honesty  and  frugality.  His  son  Titus, 
after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  (p.  85),  shared  the  throne 
with  his  father,  and  finally  succeeded  to  the  empire.  His 
generosity  and  kindness  won  him  the  name  of  the  Delight 
of  Mankind.  He  refused  to  sign  a  death-warrant,  and  pro- 
nounced any  day  lost  in  which  he  had  not  done  some  one  a 
favor.  During  this  happy  period,  the  famous  Colosseum  at 
Rome  was  finished,  and  Agricola  conquered  nearly  all 
Britain,  making  it  a  Roman  province ;   but  Pompeii  and 

*  Some  were  crncifled.  Some  were  covered  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and 
worried  to  death  by  dogs.  Some  were  thrown  to  the  tigers  and  lions  in  the  amphi- 
theatre. Gray-haired  men  were  forced  to  fight  with  trained  gladiators.  Worst  of  all, 
one  night  Nero's  gardens  were  lighted  by  Christians,  who,  their  clothes  having  been 
smeared  with  pitch  and  ignited,  were  placed  as  blazing  torches  along  the  course  on 
which  the  emperor,  heedless  of  their  agony,  drove  his  chariot  in  the  races. 


79  A.  D.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  ^61 

Herculaneum  were  destroyed  by  an  eruption  of  Mount 
Vesuvius. 

Domitian  *  (81  a.  d.)  was  a  second  Nero  or  Caligula.  His 
chief  amusement  was  in  spearing  flies  with  a  pin  ;  yet  he 
styled  himself  ''  Lord  and  God,"  and  received  divine  honors. 
He  banished  the  philosophers,  and  renewed  the  persecution 
of  the  Christians.  At  this  time,  St.  John  was  exiled  to  the 
isle  of  Patmos. 

The  Five  Good  Emperors  (96-180  a.  d.)  now  brought 
in  the  palmiest  days  of  Rome.  Nerva,  a  quiet,  honest  old 
man,  distributed  lands  among  the  plebs,  and  taught  them  to 
work  for  a  living.  Trajan,  a  great  Spanish  general,  con- 
quered the  Dacians  and  many  Eastern  peoples ;  founded 
public  libraries  and  schools  in  Italy ;  and  tried  to  restore 
freedom  of  speech  and  simplicity  of  life,  f  Hadrian  traveled 
almost  incessantly  over  his  vast  empire,  overseeing  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  provinces,  and  erecting  splendid  buildings. 
Antoninus  Pius  was  a  second  Numa,  by  his  love  of  Justice 
and  religion  diffusing  the  blessings  of  peace  and  order  over 
the  civilized  world.  Aurelius  |  was  a  philosopher  and  loved 
quiet.  But  the  time  of  peace  had  passed.  The  Germans, 
pressed  by  the  Slaves  who  lived  in  Russia,  fled  before  them, 
and  crossed  the  Roman  frontiers  as  in  the  time  of  Marius. 
The  emperor  was  forced  to  take  the  field  in  person,  and  died 
during  the  eighth  winter-campaign. 

Decline  of  the  Empire. — The  most  virtuous  of  men 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Commodus,  a  weak,  vicious  boy. 
An  era  of   military  despotism   ensued.      Murder  became 

*  Domitian  is  said  to  have  once  called  together  the  senate  to  decide  how  a  flsh 
should  be  cooked  for  his  dinner. 

t  Two  centuries  afterward,  at  the  accession  of  each  emperor,  the  senate  wished 
that  he  might  be  "  more  fortunate  than  Augustus,  more  virtuous  than  Trajan." 

X  M.  Aurelius  was  the  adopted  son  of  Antoninus,  and,  after  the  death  of  his 
adoptive  father,  assumed  Ills  name,  so  that  this  period  is  known  as  the  Age  of  the 
Anionines. 


262  feoME.  tl8<^A.B. 

domesticated  in  the  palace  of  the  Caesars.  The  Praetorian 
Guards  put  up  the  iinperial  power  at  auction,  and  sold  it  to 
the  highest  bidder.  The  armies  in  the  provinces  declared 
for  their  favorite  officers,  and  the  throne  became  the  stake 
of  battle.  Few  of  the  long  list  of  emperors  who  succeeded 
to  the  throne  are  worthy  of  mention. 

Septimlus  Seve'rus  (193  a.  d.),  a  general  in  Germany, 
after  defeating  his  rivals,  ruled  vigorously,  though  often 
cruelly.  His  triumphs  in  Parthia  and  Britain  renewed  the 
glory  of  the  Eoman  arms. 

Car'acal'lus  (211  a.  d.)  would  be  remembered  only  for 
his  ferocity,  but  that  he  gave  the  right  of  Eoman  citizenship 
to  all  the  provinces,  in  order  to  tax  them  for  the  benefit  of 
his  soldiers.  This  event  marked  an  era  in  the  history  of 
the  empire,  and  greatly  lessened  the  importance  of  Eome. 

Alexander  Seve'rus  (222  a.  d.)  delighted  in  the  society 
of  the  wise  and  good.  He  favored  the  Christians,  and  over 
the  door  of  his  palace  were  inscribed  the  words,  '^Do  unto 
others  that  which  you  would  they  should  do  unto  you. "  He 
won  victories  against  the  Germans  and  Persians  (Sassanidae, 
p.  156),  but,  attempting  to  establish  discipline  in  the  army, 
was  slain  by  his  mutinous  troops  while  he  was  yet  only  in 
the  bloom  of  youth. 

The  Barbarian  G-oths,  Germans,  and  Persians,  who 
had  so  long  threatened  the  empire,  invaded  it  on  every  side. 
The  emperor  Decius  was  killed  in  battle  by  the  Goths. 
Gallus  bought  peace  by  an  annual  tribute.  Valerian  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Persian  king,  who  carried  him  about 
in  chains,  and  used  him  as  a  footstool  in  mounting  his  horse. 
The  temple  at  Ephesus  was  burned  at  this  time  by  the  Goths. 
During  the  general  confusion,  so  many  usurpers  sprang  up 
over  the  empire  and  established  short-lived  kingdoms,  that 
this  is  "known  as  the  Era  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants. 


268  A.  D.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  263 

The  Illyrian  Emperors  (268-284  a.  d.),  however,  rolled 
back  the  tide  of  invasion.  Claudius  vanquished  the  Goths 
in  a  contest  which  recalled  the  days  of  Marius  and  the  Gauls. 
Aurelian  drove  the  Germans  into  their  native  wilds,  and  de- 
feated Zenobia,  the  beautiful  and  heroic  Queen  of  Palmyra, 
bringing  her  to  Rome  in  chains  of  gold  to  grace  his  triumph. 
Prohus  triumphed  at  the  East  and  the  West,  and,  turning  to 
the  arts  of  peace,  introduced  the  vine  into  Germany,  and 
taught  the  legions  to  work  in  vineyard  and  field.  Diode' tian 
began  a  new  method  of  government.  To  meet  the  swarm- 
ing enemies  of  the  empire,  he  associated  with  himself  his 
comrade-in-arms,  Maximian  ;  each  emperor  took  the  title  of 
Augustus,  and  appointed,  under  the  name  of  Caesar,  a  brave 
general  as  his  successor.  War  raged  at  once  in  Persia, 
Egypt,  Britain,  and  Germany,  but  the  four  rulers  vigilantly 
watched  over  their  respective  provinces,  and  the  Roman 
eagles  conquered  every  foe. 

In  the  year  303  A.  d.,  the  joint  emperors  celebrated  the 
last  triumph  ever  held  at  Rome.  During  the  same  year,  also, 
began  the  last  and  most  bitter  persecution  of  the  Christians,* 
so  that  tliis  reign  is  called  the  Era  of  the  Martyrs. 

Spread  of  Christianity. — The  religion  established  in 
Judea  by  Christ,  and  preached  during  the  1st  century  by 
Paul  and  the  other  Apostles  (see  Ac^s  of  the  Apostles),  had 
now  spread  over  the  western  empire.  It  was  largely,  how- 
ever, confined  to  the  cities,  as  is  curiously  shown  in  the  fact 
that  the  word  pagan  originally  meant  only  a  countryman. 
While  the  Romans  tolerated  the  religious  belief  of  every 
nation  which  they  conquered,  they  persecuted  the  Christians 
alone.     This  was  because  the  latter  opposed  the  national 

*  In  305  A.  D.,  both  emperors  resigned  the  purple.  Diocletian  amused  himself  by 
working  in  his  garden,  and  when  Maximian  sought  to  draw  him  out  of  his  retire- 
ment, he  wrote :  "  If  you  could  see  the  cabbages  I  have  planted  with  my  own  hand, 
you  would  never  ask  me  to  remount  the  throne." 


264  EOME.  [4th  CENT.  A.  D. 

religion  of  the  empire,  refused  to  offer  sacrifice  to  its  gods, 
and  to  worship  its  emperors.  Moreover,  the  Christians 
absented  themselves  from  the  games  and  feasts,  and  were 
accustomed  to  hold  their  meetiogs  at  night,  and  often  in 
secret.  They  were  therefore  looked  upon  as  enemies  of  the 
state,  and  were  persecuted  by  even  the  best  rulers,  as  Trajan 
and  Diocletian.  This  opposition,  however,  served  only  to 
strengthen  the  rising  faith.  The  heroism  of  the  martyrs 
extorted  the  admiration  of  their  enemies.  Thus,  when  Poly- 
carp  was  hurried  before  the  tribunal  and  urged  to  curse 
Christ,  he  exclaimed  *^  Eighty-six  years  have  I  served  Him, 
and  He  has  done  me  nothing  but  good  ;  how  could  I  curse 
Him,  my  Lord  and  Saviour."  And  when  the  flames  rose 
around  him  he  thanked  God  that  he  was  deemed  worthy  of 
such  a  death.  With  the  decaying  empire,  heathenism  grew 
weaker,  while  Christianity  gained  strength.  As  early  as  the 
reign  of  Septimins  Severus,  Tertullian  declared  that  if  the 
Christians  were  forced  to  emigrate,  the  empire  would  become 
a  desert. 

Loss  of  Roman  Prestige. — Men  no  longer  looked  to 
Kome  for  their  citizenship.  The  army  consisted  principally 
of  Gauls,  Germans,  and  Britons,  who  were  now  as  good  Ro- 
mans as  any.  The  emperors  were  of  provincial  birth.  The 
wars  kept  them  on  the  frontiers,  and  Diocletian,  it  is  said, 
had  never  seen  Rome  until  he  came  there  in  the  twentieth 
year  of  his  reign  to  celebrate  his  triumph.  His  gorgeous 
Asiatic  court,  with  its  pompous  ceremonies  and  its  king 
wearing  the  hated  crown,  was  so  ridiculed  in  Rome  by 
song  and  lampoon  that  the  monarch  never  returned.  His 
headquarters  were  kept  at  Nicomedia  (Bithynia)  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  Maximian's  at  Milan. 

Constantine,  the  Caesar  in  Britain,  having  been  pro- 
claimed Augustus  by  his  troops,  overthrew  five  rivals  who 


424  A.  D.]  THE     POLITICAL     HISTORY.  265 

contested  the  throne,  and  became  sole  ruler  (324  A.  d.).  His 
reign  marked  an  era  in  the  world's  history.  It  was  charac- 
terized by  three  changes  :  1.  Christianity  became,  in  a 
sense,  the  state-religion.*  2.  The  capital  was  removed  to 
Byzantium,  a  G-reek  city,  afterward  known  as  Constantinople 
(Constantino's  city).  3.  The  monarchy  was  made  an  abso- 
lute despotism,  the  army  being  remodeled  so  as  to  weaken 
its  power,  and  a  court  established,  with  its  titled  nobility, 
who  received  their  honors  directly  from  the  emperor,  and 
took  rank  with,  if  not  the  place  of,  the  former  consul, 
senator,  or  patrician. 

The  First  General  ((Ecumenical)  Council  of  the  church 
was  held  at  Nice  (325  a.  d.),  to  consider  the  teachings  of 
Arius,  a  priest  of  Alexandria,  who  denied  the  divinity  of 
Christ. 

Christianity  soon  conquered  the  empire.  The  emperor 
Julian,  the  Apostate,  an  excellent  man  though  a  pagan 
philosopher,  sought  to  restore  the  old  religion,  but  in  vain. 
The  best  intellects,  repelled  from  political  discussion  by  the 
tyranny  of  the  government,  turned  to  the  consideration  of 
theological  questions.  This  was  especially  true  of  the  Eastern 
church,  where  the  Greek  mind,  so  fond  of  metaphysical 
subtleties,  was  predominant. 

Barbarian  Invasions. — In  the  latter  part  of  the  4th 
century,  a  host  of  savage  Huns,f  bursting  intj^B^ope,  drove 

*  According  to  the  legend,  when  Constantine  was  marching  against  Maxentias, 
the  rival  Augustus  at  Rome,  he  saw  in  the  sky  at  midday  a  flaming  cross,  and  beneath 
*  it  the  words,  In  this  conquer  !  Constantine  accepted  the  new  faith,  and  assumed 
the  standard  of  the  cross,  which  was  henceforth  borne  by  the  Christian  emperors. 

t  The  Huns  were  a  Turanian  race  from  Asia.  They  were  short,  thick-set,  with 
flat  noses,  deep-sunk  eyes,  and  a  yellow  complexion.  Their  faces  were  hideously 
scarred  with  slashes  to  prevent  the  growth  of  the  beard.  A  historian  of  the  time  com- 
pared them  in  their  ugliness  to  the  grinning  heads  clumsily  carved  on  the  posts  of 
bridges.  They  built  no  cities  or  houses,  and  never  came  under  a  roof  except  in 
guperstitions  dread.  They  were  clad  in  skins,  which  were  never  changed  until  they 
rotted  off.  They  lived  on  horseback,  carrying  their  families  and  all  their  possessions 
in  huge  wagons. 


^66  BOME. 


[378  A.  D. 


the  Teutons  in  terror  before  them.  The  frightened  Goths  * 
obtained  permission  to  cross  the  Danube  for  an  asylum,  and 
soon  a  million  of  these  wild  warriors  stood  sword  in  hand 
on  the  Eoman  territory.  They  were  assigned  lands  in 
Thrace ;  but  the  ill-treatment  of  the  Roman  officials  drove 
them  to  arms.  They  defeated  the  emperor  Valens  in  a 
terrible  battle  near  Adrianople,  the  monarch  himself  being 
burned  to  death  in  a  peasant's  cottage,  where  he  had  been 
carried  wounded.  The  victorious  Goths  pressed  forward  to 
the  very  gates  of  Constantinople. 

Theodosius  the  Great,  a  Spaniard,  raised  from  a  farm 
to  the  throne,  stayed  for  a  few  years  the  inevitable  progress 
of  events.  He  pacified  the  Goths,  and  enlisted  forty 
thousand  of  their  warriors  under  the  eagles,  of  Rome.  He 
forbade  the  worship  of  the  old  gods,  and  tried  to  put  down  - 
the  Arian  heresy,  so  prevalent  at  Constantinople.  At  his 
death  (395  A.  D.),  the  empire  was  divided  between  his  two 
sons. 

Henceforth,  the  histories  of  the  Eastern  or  Byzantine  and 
the  Western  Empire  are  separate.  The  former  is  to  go  on 
at  Constantinople  for  one  thousand  years,  while  Rome  is 
soon  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  barbarians. 

The  5th  Century  is  known  as  the  Era  of  the  Great 
Migration.  During  this  period,  Europe  was  turbulent  with 
the  movements  of  the  restless  Germans.  Pressed  by  the 
Huns,  the  different  tribes— the  East  and  West  Goths,  Franks, 
Alans,  Vandals,  Burgundians,  Longobards  (Lombards),  Al- 
lemanns.  Angles,  Saxons — poured  south  and  west  with  irre-"^ 

*  The  Goths  were  already  somewhat  advanced  in  civilization  through  their  inter- 
course with  the  Komans,  and  we  read  of  Gothic  leaders  who  were  "judges  of  Honjer, 
and  carried  well-chosen  books  with  them  on  their  travels."  Under  the  teachings  of 
their  good  bishop  TJl'philas,  many  accepted  Christianity,  and  the  Bible  was  translated 
into  their  language.  They,  however, became  Arians,  and  so  a  new  element  of  discord 
was  intrdduced,  as  they  hated  the  Catholic  Christians  of  Rome.  See  BHef  History 
of  France,  p.  14. 


THE     1>0LITICAL     HISTOEY.  267 

sisfcible  fury,  arms  in  hand,  seeking  new  homes  in  the 
crumbling  Roman  empire.  It  was  nearly  two  centuries 
before  the  turmoil  subsided  enough  to  note  the  changes 
which  had  taken  place. 

Three  Great  Barbaric  Leaders,  Alaric  the  Goth, 
Attila  the  Hun,  and  Genseric  the  Vandal,  were  conspicuous 
in  the  grand  catastrophe. 

1.  Alaric  having  been  chosen  prince  of  the  Goths,  after 
the  death  of  Theodosius,  passed  the  defile  of  Thermopylae, 
and  devastated  Greece,  destroying  the  precious  monuments 
of  its  former  glory.  Sparta  and  Athens,  once  so  brave,  made 
no  defence.  He  was  finally  driven  back  by  Stilicho,  a  Van- 
dal, but  the  only  great  Roman  general.  Alaric  next  moved 
upon  Italy,  but  was  repeatedly  repulsed  by  the  watchful 
Stilicho.  The  Roman  emperor  Honorius,  jealous  of  his 
successful  general,  ordered  his  execution.  When  Alaric 
came  again,  there  was  no  one  to  oppose  his  progress.  All 
the  barbarian  Germans,  of  every  name,  joined  his  victorious 
arms.  Rome  *  bought  a  brief  respite  with  a  ransom  of  "  gold, 
silver,  silk,  scarlet  cloth,  and  pepper";  but  the  Eternal 
City,  which  had  not  seen  an  enemy  before  its  walls  since  the 
day  when  it  defied  Hannibal,  soon  fell  without  a  blow  (410 
A.  D.).  No  Horatius  was  there  to  hold  the  bridge  in  this 
hour  of  peril.  The  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  at  midnight 
the  Gothic  trumpet  awoke  the  inhabitants.  For  six  days 
the  barbarians  held  high  reyel,  and    then    their    clumsy 


*  "  Rome,  at  this  time,  contained  probably  a  mSIlion  of  inhabitants,  and  its  wealth 
might  well  attract  the  cupidity  of  the  barbarous  invader.  The  palaces  of  the  senators 
were  filled  with  gold  and  silver  ornaments — the  prize  of  many  a  bloody  campaign. 
The  churches  were  rich  with  the  contributions  of  pious  worshippers.  On  the  en- 
t^ance  of  the  Goths,  a  fearful  scene  of  pillage  ensued.  Houses  were  fired  to  light  the 
streets.  Great  numbers  of  citizens  were  driven  off  to  be  sold  as  slaves ;  while  others 
fled  to  Africa,  or  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  Alaric  being  an  Arian,  tried  to 
save  the  churches,  as  well  as  the  city,  from  destruction.  But  now  began  that  swift 
decay  which  soon  reduced  Rome  to  heaps  of  ruins,  and  rendered  the  title  '  The 
Eternal  City '  a  sad  mockery."— ^Smi^A. 


268 


ROME. 


wagons,  heaped  high  with  priceless  plunder,  moved  south 
along  the  Appian  Way.  Alaric  died  soon  after.*  His  suc- 
cessor married  the  sister  of  the  emperor,  f  and  was  styled 
an  officer  of  Rome.  Under  his  guidance,  the  Goths  and 
Germans  turned  westward  into  Spain  and  southern  Gaul. 
There  they  founded  a  powerful  Visigothic  kingdom,  with 
Toulouse  as  its  capital. 

2.  Attilay  king  of  the 
hideous  Huns,  gathering 
a  half  million  savages,  set 
forth  westward  from  his 
wooden  palace  in  Hungary, 
vowing  not  to  stop  till  he 
reached  the  sea.  He  called 
himself  the  Scourge  of 
God,  and  boasted  that 
where  his  horse  set  foot 
grass  never  grew  again. 
On  the  field  of  Chalons 
(451  A.  D.),  ^'tius  theEo- 
__  man  general  in  Gaul,  and 
Theodoric  king  of  the 
Goths,  arrested  this  Tu- 
ranian horde,  and  saved 
AiTiLA.  Europe  to  Christianity  and 

Aryan  civilization.    Burn- 
ing with  revenge,  Attila  crossed  the  Alps  and  descended 


♦  The  Goths,  in  order  to  hide  his  tomb,  tamed  aside  a  stream,  and,  digging  a  grave 
in  its  bed,  placed  therein  the  body,  clad  in  richest  armor.  They  then  let  the  water 
back,  and  slew  the  prisoners  who  had  done  the  work. 

t  During  this  disgraceful  campaign,  Honorius  lay  hidden  in  the  inaccessible 
morasses  of  liavenna,  where  he  amused  himself  with  his  pet  chickens.  When  some 
one  told  him  Rome  was  lost,  he  replied,  "  That  cannot  be,  for  1  fed  her  ont  of  my 
hand  a  moment  ago,**  alluding  to  a  ben  which  he  called  Borne. 


THE     POLITICAL     HISTOBY.  269 

into  Italy.  City  after  city  was  spoiled  and  burned.*  Just 
as  he  was  about  to  march  upon  Eome,  Pope  Leo  came  forth 
to  meet  him,  and  the  barbarian,  awed  by  his  majestic  mien 
and  the  glory  which  yet  clung  to  that  seat  of  empire,  agreed 
to  spare  the  city.  Attila  returned  to  the  banks  of  the 
Danube,  Avhere  he  died  shortly  after,  leaving  behind  him  in 
history  no  mark  save  the  ruin  he  had  wrought. 

3.  Gen'seric,  leading  across  into  Africa  the  Vandals,  who 
had  already  settled  the  provmce  of  VandalMm^i  in  southern 
Spain,  founded  an  empire  at  Carthage.  Wishing  to  revive 
its  former  maritime  greatness,  he  built  a  fleet  and  gained 
control  of  the  Mediterranean.  His  ships  cast  anchor  in  the 
Tiber,  and  the  intercessions  of  Leo  were  now  fruitless  to 
save  Rome.  For  fourteen  days,  the  pirates  plundered  the 
city  of  the  Caesars.  Works  of  art,  bronzes,  precious  marbles, 
were  ruthlessly  destroyed,  so  that  the  word  Vandal  became 
synonymous  with  wanton  devastation. 

Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  (476  A.  d.). — The  com- 
mander of  the  barbarian  troops  jn  the  pay  of  Rome  now  set 
up  at  pleasure  one  puppet-emperor  after  another.  The  last 
of  these  phantom  monarchs,  Romulus  Augustalus,  by  a  sin- 
gular coincidence,  bore  the  names  of  the  founder  of  the  city, 
and  of  the  empire.  Finally,  at  the  command  of  Odo'acer, 
German  chief  of  the  mercenaries,  he  laid  down  his  useless 
sceptre.  The  senate  sent  the  tiara  and  purple  robe  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  Zeno,  the  Eastern  emperor,  appointed 
Odoacer  Patrician  of  Italy.  So  the  Western  empire  passed 
away,  and  only  this  once  proud  title  remained  to  recall  its 
former  glory. 


*  The  inhabitants  of  Aquileia  and  other  cities,  seeking  a  refuge  in  the  islands 
of  the  Adriatic,  founded  the  city  of  Venice,  fitly  named  The  Eldest  Daughter  of  the 
Empire. 


270 


KOME. 


ROMAN  CONSUL  AND   LICTORS. 

a    THE    CIVILIZATION. 

Society. — The  early  Roman  social  and  political  organization  was 
similar  to  the  Athenian  (p.  158).  The  true  Roman  people  comprised 
only  the  patricians  and  their  clients.  The  patricians  formed  the 
ruling  class,  and,  even  in  the  time  of  the  republic,  gave  to  Roman 
history  an  aristocratic  character.  Several  clients  were  attached  to 
each  patrician,  serving  his  interests,  and,  in  turn,  being  protected 
by  him. 

The  three  original  tribes  of  patricians  (Ramnes,  Tities,  and 
Luceres)  were  each  divided  into  ten  curice,  and  each  curia  theoreti- 
cally into  ten  gentes  (houses,  or  clans).  The  members  of  a  Roman 
curia,  or  ward,  like  those  of  an  Athenian  pliratry.^  possessed  many 
interests  in  common,  each  curia  having  its  own  priest  and  lands.  A 
gens  comprised   several   families,*  united  usually  by  kinship  and 


*  Contrary  to  the  custom  in  Greece,  where  family-names  were  seldom  nsed,  and  a 
man  was  generally  known  by  a  single  name  having  reference  to  some  personal  pecu- 
liarity or  circumstance  (p.  175),  every  Roman  was  given  three  names  :  \hQ  pr(X,nomen 
or  individual  name,  the  nomen  or  clan-name,  and  the  cognomen  or  family-name. 
Sometimes  a  fourth  name  was  added  to  commemorate  some  exploit.  Thus,  in  the 
case  of  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio  Africanus  and  his  brother,  Lsehus  Cornelius  Scipia 
Asiaticus  (note,  p.  235),  we  recognize  all  these  titles. 


THE     GIVILIZATIOK.  271 

intermarriage,  and  bearing  the  same  name.  Besides  this  general 
organization,  each  family  formed  a  little  community  by  itself, 
governed  by  its  "  paterfamilias,"  who  owned  all  the  x>roperty  and 
held  the  life  of  his  children  at  will.  The  sons  dwelt  under  the 
paternal  roof,  often  long  after  they  were  married,  and  cultivated  the 
family  estate  in  common. 

Magistrates.-  TAe  consuls  commanded  the  army,  and  executed 
the  decrees  of  the  senate  and  the  people.  They  were  chosen  annually. 
They  wore  a  white  robe  with  a  purple  border,  and  were  attended  by 
twelve  lictors  bearing  the  axe  and  rods,  emblems  of  the  consular 
power.  At  the  approach  of  a  consul,  all  heads  were  uncovered, 
seated  persons  arose,  and  those  on  horseback  dismounted.  No  one 
was  eligible  to  the  consulship  until  he  was  forty-three  years  of  age, 
and  had  held  the  offices  of  questor,  sedile,  and  praetor. 

The  qmstors  received  and  paid  out  the  moneys  of  the  state. 

The  (Bcliles,  two  (and,  afterward,  four)  in  number,  took  charge  of 
tlie  public  buildings,  the  cleaning  and  draining  of  the  streets,  and 
the  superintendence  of  the  police  and  the  public  games. 

The  pv(Rtor  was  a  sort  of  judge.  At  first  there  was  only  one,  but, 
finally,  owing  to  the  increase  of  Roman  territory,  there  were  sixteen 
of  these  officers.  In  the  later  days  of  the  republic  it  became  custom- 
ary for  the  consuls  and  tlie  praetors,  after  serving  a  year  in  the  city, 
to  take  command  of  provinces,  and  to  assume  the  title  of  proconsul 
or  propraetor. 

The  two  censors  were  elected  for  five  years.  They  took  the  cen- 
sus, not  only  of  the  names  but  of  the  property  of  the  Roman  ^citizens  ; 
arranged  the  different  classes  (p.  213) ;  corrected  the  lists  of  senators 
and  equites,  striking  out  those  who  were  unworthy,  and  tilling  vacan- 
cies in  the  senate;  punished  extravagance  and  immorality;  levied 
the  taxes ;  and  repaired  and  constructed  public  works,  roads,  etc. 

The  Army. — Every  citizen  between  the  ages  of  seventeen  and  fifty 
was  subject  to  military  service,  unless  he  was  of  the  lowest  class,  or 
had  seiwed  twenty  campaigns  in  the  infantry  or  ten  in  the  cavalry. 
The  drill  was  severe,  and  included  running,  jumping,  swimming  in 
full  armor,  and  marching  long  distances  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  pei 
hour.  The  order  of  battle,  equipment,  etc.,  varied  at  different  times. 
Among  the  peculiarities  were  the  four  classes  of  foot-soldiers,  viz. . 
the  velites,  or  light  armed,  who  hovered  in  front ;  the  hastati,  so-called 
because  they  anciently  carried  spears,  and  who  formed  the  first  line 
of  battle ;  the  princij^es,  so-named  because  in  early  times  they  were 
put  in  front,  and  who  formed  the  second  line;  and  the  triarii^ 
veterans  who  composed  the  third  line.    Each  legion  contained  from 


272 


ROME 


three  to  six  thousand  men.      The  legions  were  divided  and  sub- 
divided into  cohorts,  companies  (manipuli),  and  centuries. 

Arms  and  Mode  of  Warfare. — The  national  arm  of  the  Romans 
was  the  pilum,  a  heavy  iron-pointed  spear,  six  feet  long,  and  weighing 
ten  or  eleven  pounds.  This  was  thrown  at  a  distance  of  ten  to 
fifteen  paces,  after  which  the  legionary  quickly  came  to  blows  with 
his  stout,  short  sword.  The  velites  began  the  battle  with  their 
light  javelins,  and  then  retired  behind  the  rest.  The  hastati.  the 
principes,  and  the  triarii,  each,  in  turn,  bore  the  brunt  of  the  fight,  and, 
if  defeated,  passed  through 
intervals  between  the  man- 
ipuli of  the  other  lines,  and 
rallied  in  the  rear.* 


SIEGE   OF  A  CITY. 


*  Later  in  Roman  history  the  soldier  ceased  to  be  a  citizen,  and  remained  con- 
stantly with  the  eagles  until  discharged.    Mariug  arranged  his  troops  in  two  lines, 


THE    CIVILIZATION.  273 

The  Romans  learned  from  the  Greeks  the  use  of  military  engines, 
and  finally  became  experts  in  the  art  of  sieges.  Their  principal 
machines  were  the  daUista  for  throwing  stones ;  the  catapult  for  hurl- 
ing darts ;  the  battering  ram  (so-called  from  the  shape  of  the  metal 
head)  for  breaching  walls ;  and  the  movable  tower,  which  could  be 
pushed  close  to  the  fortifications  and  so  overlook  them. 

On  tJie  march  each  soldier  had  to  carry,  besides  his  arms,  grain 
enough  to  last  from  seventeen  to  thirty  days,  one  or  more  wooden 
stakes,  and,  often,  intrenching  tools.  When  the  army  halted,  even 
for  a  single  night,  a  ditch  was  dug  about  the  site  for  the  camp,  and 
a  stout  palisade  made  of  the  wooden  stakes,  to  guard  against  a 
sudden  attack.  The  exact  size  of  the  camp,  and  the  location  of 
every  tent,  street,  etc. ,  were  fixed  by  a  regular  plan  common  to  all 
the  armies. 

Literature. — For  about  five  centuries  after  the  founding  of 
Rome,  there  was  not  a  Latin  author.  When  a  regard  for  letters  at 
last  arose,  the  tide  of  imitation  set  irresistibly  toward  Greece.  Over 
two  centuries  after  ^schylus  and  Sophocles  contended  for  the 
Athenian  prize,  Limus  Andronicus,  a  Grecian-bom  slave  (brought 
to  Rome  about  250  b.  c),  made  the  first  Latin  translation  of  Greek 
classics,  and  himself  wrote  and  acted  *  plays  whose  inspiration  was 
caught  from  the  same  source.  His  works  soon  became  text-books  in 
Roman  schools,  and  were  used  till  the  time  of  Virgil.  Mevius,  a 
soldier-poet,  "  the  last  of  the  native  minstrels,"  patterned  after 
Euripides  in  tragedy,  and  Aristophanes  in  comedy.  The  Romans 
resented  the  exposure  of  their  national  and  individual  weaknesses 
on  the  stage,  sent  the  bold  satirist  to  prison,  and  finally  banished 
him.  Ennius,  "  the  father  of  Latin  song,"  who  called  himself  the 
Roman  "  Homer,"  and  who  unblushingly  borrowed  from  his  great 
model,  decried  the  native  fashion  of  ballad-writing,  introduced 
hexameter  verse,  and  built  up  a  new  style  of  literature,  closely 

and  Cffisar  generally  in  three,  but  the  terms  hastati,  principes,  and  triarli  lost  their 
significance.  The  place  of  the  velites  was  taken  by  Cretan  archers,  Balearic  slingers, 
and  Gallic  and  Gterman  mercenaries.  In  time,  the  army  was  filled  with  foreigners  ; 
the  heavy  pllum  and  breastplate  were  thrown  aside  ;  all  trace  of  Koman  equipment 
and  discipline  disappeared,  and  the  legion  became  a  thing  of  the  past. 

*  For  a  long  time,  he  was  the  only  performer  in  these  dramas.  He  recited  the 
dialogues  and  speeches,  and  sung  the  lyrics  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  flute.  So 
favorably  was  the  new  entertainment  received  by  Roman  audiences,  and  so  often 
was  the  successful  actor  encored^  that  he  lost  his  voice,  and  was  obliged  to  hire  a 
boy,  who,  hidden  behind  a  curtain,  sung  the  canticas,  while  Livius,  in  front,  made 
the  appropriate  gestures.  This  custom  afterward  became  common  on  the  Roman 
stage. 


274  BO  ME. 

founded  on  the  Grecian.*  His  Annals^  a  poetical  Roman  history, 
was  for  two  centuries  the  national  poem  of  Rome.  Ennius,  unlike 
Nsevius,  flattered  the  ruling  powers,  and  was  rewarded  by  having 
his  bust  placed  in  the  tomb  of  the  Scipios.  Plautus  (254-184  b.  c), 
who  pictured  with  his  coarse,  vigorous,  and  brilliant  wit  the  man- 
ners of  his  day,  and  Terence  (195-159  b.  c),  a  learned  and  graceful 
humorist,  were  the  two  great  comic  poets  of  Rome.f  They  were 
succeeded  by  Lucilius  (148-103  b.  c),  a  brave  soldier  and  famous 
knight,  whose  sharp,  fierce  satire  was  poured  relentlessly  on  Roman 
vice  and  folly. 

Among  the  early  prose  writers  was  Cato  the  Censor  (234-149  b.  c), 
son  of  a  Sabine  farmer,  who  became  famous  as  lawyer,  orator, 
soldier,  and  politician  (p.  234).  His  hand-book  on  agriculture,  JDe 
Be  Mustica,  is  still  studied  by  farmers,  and  over  one  hundred  and 
fifty  of  his  strong,  rugged  orations  find  a  place  among  the  classics. 
His  chief  work.  The  Origines,  a  history  of  Rome,  is  lost. 

Varro  (116-28  b.  c),  "  the  most  learned  of  the  Romans,"  first 
soldier,  then  farmer  and  author,  wrote  on  theology,  philosophy, 
history,  agriculture,  etc.  He  founded  large  libraries  and  a  museum 
of  sculpture,  cultivated  the  fine  arts,  and  sought  to  awaken  literary 
tastes  among  his  countrymen. 

To  the  last  century  b.  c.  belong  the  illustrious  names  of  Virgil 
and  Horace,  Cicero,  Livy,  and  Sallust.     First  in  order  of  birth  was 

Cice7'0jl  orator,  essayist,  and  delightful  letter-writer.     Most  elo- 

*  Ennius  claimed  that  the  soul  of  the  old  Greek  bard  had  In  its  transmigration 
entered  his  body  from  its  preceding  home  in  a  peacock.  He  so  impressed  his  intel- 
lectual personality  upon  the  Romans  that  they  were  sometimes  called  the  "Ennjan 
People."  Cicero  greatly  admired  his  works,  and  Virgil  borrowed  as  unscrupulously 
from  Ennius,  as  Ennius  had  filched  from  Homer. 

t  It  is  noticeable  that  of  all  the  poets  we  have  mentioned,  not  one  was  bom  at 
Rome.  Livius  was  a  slave  from  Magna  Graecia ;  Naevius  was  a  native  of  Campania  ; 
Ennius  was  a  Calabrian,  who  came  to  Rome  as  a  teacher  of  Greek  ;  Plautus  (meaning 
flat-foot— his  name  being,  like  Plato,  a  sobriquet)  was  an  Umbrian,  the  son  of  a 
slave,  and  served  in  various  menial  employments  before  he  began  play-writing ;  and 
Terence  was  the  slave  of  a  Roman  senator.  To  be  a  Roman  slave,  however,  was  not 
incompatible  with  the  possession  of  talents  and  education,  since,  by  the  pitiless 
rules  of  ancient  warfare,  the  richest  and  most  learned  citizen  of  a  captured  town 
might  become  a  drudge  in  a  Roman  household,  or  be  sent  to  labor  in  the  mines. 

t  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero  (106  43  B.  c  ),  son  of  a  book-loving,  country  gentleman, 
was  educated  at  Rome,  studied  law  and  philosophy  at  Athens,  traveled  two  years  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  then  settled  in  Rome  as  an  advocate.  Plunging  into  the  politics  of 
his  time,  he  soon  became  famous  for  his  thrilling  oratory,  and  was  made,  in  succes- 
sion, questor,  sedile,  prsetor,  and  consul.  For  his  detection  of  Catiline's  conspiracy, 
he  received  the  title  of  Pater  Patriae.  His  subsequent  banishment,  recall,  and 
tragic  death  are  historical  (p.  248).  Cicero  was  accused  of  being  vain,  vacillating, 
unamiable,  and  extravagant.    He  had  an  elegant  mansion  on  the  Palatine  Hill  and 


THE     CIVILIZATIOK.  275 

quent  of  all  the  Romans,  his  genius  was  not  exhausted  in  the  rude 
contests  of  the  forum  and  basilica,  but  his  thoughtful  political 
essays,  and  his  gossipy  letters,  are  esteemed  as  highly  as  his  brilliant 
orations.  He  studied  Greek  models,  and  his  four  orations  on  the 
Conspiracy  of  Gatiline  rank  not  unfavorably  with  the  Philippics  of 
Demosthenes.  His  orations  were  used  for  lessons  in  Roman  schools 
before  he  died,  and,  with  his  essays,  De  Bepublica^  Be  Officiis^  and  Be 
Senectute,  are  familiar  Latin  text-books  of  to-day. 

Sallust*  a  polished  historian  after  the  style  of  Thucydides,  holds 
his  literary  renown  by  two  short  works — The  Conspiracy  of  Catiline 
and  The  Jugurthine  War,  which  are  remarkable  for  their  condensed 
vigor  and  vivid  portrayal  of  character. 

Virgilj  and  Horace,  poet-friends  of  the  Augustan  Age,  are  well- 
known  to  us.  >  Virgil  left  ten  Eclogues  or  Bucolics,  in  which 
he  patterned  after  Theocritus,  a  celebrated  Sicilian  poet  of  the 
Alexandrian  Age ;  The  Georgics,  a  work  on  Roman  agriculture  and 
stock-breeding,  in  confessed  imitation  of  Hesiod's  Worhs  and  Bays; 
and  the  ^neid,  modeled  upon  the  Homeric  poems.     His  tender, 

numerous  country  villas,  his  favorite  one  at  TuscuJum  being  built  on  the  plan  of  the 
Academy  at  Athens.  Here  he  walked  and  talked  with  his  friends  in  a  pleasant  imi- 
tation of  Aristotle,  and  here  he  had  a  magnificent  library  of  handsomely-bound 
volumes,  to  which  he  continually  added  rare  works,  copied  by  his  skillful  Greek 
slaves.  His  favorite  poet  was  Euripides,  whose  Medea,  it  is  said,  he  was  reading 
when  he  was  overtaken  by  his  assassinators. 

*  Caius  Sallustius  Crispus  (86-34  b.  c),  who  was  expelled  from  the  senate  for 
immorality,  served  afterward  in  the  civil  war,  and  was  made  governor  of  Numidia 
by  Julius  Caesar.  He  grew  enormously  rich  on  his  provincial  plunderings,  and 
returned  to  Rome  to  build  a  magnificent  palace  on  the  edge  of  the  Campus  Mavtius, 
where,  in  the  midst  of  beautiful  gardens,  groves,  and  flowers,  he  devoted  his  remain- 
ing years  to  study  and  friendship. 

t  The  small  paternal  estate  ofPublius  Vlrgilius  Maro  (70-19  b.  c),  which  was 
confiscated  after  the  fall  of  the  republic,  was  restored  to  him  by  Augustus.  The 
young  country  poet,  who  had  been  educated  in  Cremona,  Milan,  and  Naples,  ex- 
pressed his  gratitude  for  the  imperial  favor  in  a  Bucolic  (shepherd-poem),  one  of 
several  addressed  to  various  friends.  Their  merit  and  novelty — for  they  were  the  first 
Latin  pastorals— attracted  the  notice  of  Maecenas,  the  confidential  adviser  of  the  em- 
peror; and,  presently,  ''the  tall,  slouching,  somewhat  plebeian  figure  of  Virgil  was  seen 
among  the  brilliant  crowd  of  courtiers,  statesmen,  artists,  poets,  and  historians  who 
thronged  the  audience-chamber  of  the  popular  minister,"  In  his  sumptuous  palace  on 
the  Esquiline  Hill.  Maecenas,  whose  wealth  equaled  his  luxurious  tastes,  took  great 
delight  in  encouraging  men  of  letters,  being  himself  well  versed  in  Gr^ek  and  Roman . 
literature,  the  fine  arts,  and  natural  history.  Acting  upon  his  advice,  Virgil  wrote 
the  Geargics,  upon  which  he  spent  seven  years.  The  JEndd  was  written  to  please 
Augustus,  whose  ancestry  it  traces  back  to  the  "  pious  ^neas"  of  Troy,  the  hero  of 
the  poem.  In  his  last  illness,  Virgil,  who  had  not  yet  polished  his  great  work  to  suit 
his  fastidious  tastes,  would  have  destroyed  it  but  for  the  entreaties  of  his  friends. 
In  accordance  with  his  dying  request,  he  was  buried  near  Naples,  where  his  tomb 
is  still  shown  above  the  Posilippo  Grotto. 


276 


HOME 


brilliant,  graceful,  musical  lines  are  on  the  tongue  of  every  Latin 
student.  The  JSndd  became  a  text-book  for  the  little  Romans  within 
fifty  years  after  its  author's  death,  and  has  never  lost  its  place  in  the 
school-room. 


CICERO,   VIRGIL,   HORACE,   AND   SALLUST. 

Horace^^  in  his  early  writings,  imitated  Archilochus  and  Lucilius, 
and  himself  says : 

"  The  shafts  of  my  passion  at  random  I  flung. 
And,  dashing  headlong  into  petulant  rhyme, 
I  recked  neither  where  nor  how  fiercely  I  stung.". 

-Ode  1. 15. 


*  Quinius  Horatius  Flaccus  (65-8  b.  c),  "  the  wit  who  never  wounded,  the  poet 
who  ever  charmed,  the  friend  who  never  failed,"  was  the  son  of  a  freedman,  who 
gave  his  boy  a  thorough  Roman  education,  and  afterward  sent  him  to  Athens— still 
the  school  of  the  world.  Here  he  joined  the  army  of  Brutus,  but  after  the  defeat  at 
Phil ippi— where  his  bravery  resembled  that  of  Archilochus  and  Alcaeus  (p.  164)— he 
returned  to  Rome  to  find  his  father  dead,  and  all  his  little  fortune  confiscated.  Of 
this  time,  he  afterward  wrote : 

"  Want  stared  me  in  the  face  ;  so  then  and  there 
I  took  to  scribbling  verse  in  sheer  despair." 

The  proceeds  of  his  poems  and  the  gifts  of  friends  bought  him  a  clerkship  in  the 
questor's  department,  and  made  him  modestly  independent.    Virgil  introduced  him 


THE     CIVILIZATIOK.  277 

But  his  kind,  genial  nature  soon  tempered  this  "  petulant  rhyme." 
His  Satires  are  rambling,  sometimes  ironical,  and  always  witty,  dis- 
courses. Like  Virgil,  he  loved  to  sing  of  country  life.  He  wrote 
laboriously,  and  carefully  studied  all  his  metaphors  and  phrases. 
His  Odes  have  a  consummate  grace  and  finish. 

Livyf^  who  outlived  Horace  by  a  quarter  of  a  century,  wrote  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  volumes  of  Boman  History^  beginning  with 
the  fabulous  landing  of  ^neas,  and  closing  with  the  death  of  Drusus 
(8  B.  c).  Thirty-five  volumes  remain.  His  grace,  enthusiasm,  and 
eloquence  make  his  pages  delightful  to  read,  though  he  is  no  longer 
accepted  as  an  accurate  historian. 

The  First  Century  a.  d.  produced  the  two  Plinys,  Tacitus,  Juvenal, 
and  Seneca. 

Pliny  the  Elder  t  is  remembered  for  his  Natural  History^  a  work 
of  thirty-seven  volumes,  covering  the  whole  range  of  the  scientific 
knowledge  of  his  time. 

Pliny  the  Younger,  the  charming  letter-writer,  and  Tadtus,  the 
orator  and  historian,  two  rich,  eloquent,  and  distinguished  noble- 
men, were  among  the  most  famous  intellectual  men  of  their  time.  J 

to  Maecenas,  who  took  him  into  an  almost  romantic  friendship,  lasting  through 
life.  From  this  generous  patron,  he  received  the  gift  of  the  "  Sabine  Farm,"  to 
which  he  retired,  and  which  he  has  immortalized  by  his  descriptions.  He  died  a 
few  months  after  his  "  dear  knight  Maecenas,"  to  whom  he  had  declared  nearly  a  score 
of  years  before, 

"  Ah,  if  untimely  Fate  should  snatch  thee  hence, 

Thee,  of  my  soul  a  part," 
"  Think  not  that  I  have  sworn  a  bootless  oath, 
For  we  shall  go,  shall  go, 
Hand  linked  in  hand,  where'er  thou  leadest,  both 
The  last  sad  road  below." 
He  was  buried  on  the  Esquiline  Hill,  by  the  side  of  his  princely  friend. 
*  Titus  Livius  (59  b.  C.-17  A.  d.)-    Little  is  known  of  his  private  life  except  that 
he  was  the  friend  of  the  Caesars.    So  great  was  his  renown  in  his  own  time  that,  ac- 
cording to  legend,  a  Spaniard  traveled  from  Cadiz  to  Rome  to  see  him,  looked  upon 
him,  and  contentedly  retraced  his  journey. 

t  Of  this  Pliny's  incessant  research,  his  nephew  (Pliny  the  Younger)  writfes : 
"  From  the  twenty-third  of  August  he  began  to  study  at  midnight,  and  through 
the  winter  he  rose  at  one  or  two  in  the  morning.  During  his  meals  a  book 
was  read  to  him,  he  taking  notes  while  it  went  on,  for  he  read  nothing  without 
making  extracts.  In  fact  he  thought  all  time  lost  which  was  not  given  to  study." 
Besides  his  Natural  History,  Pliny  the  Elder  wrote  over  sixty  books  on  History, 
Rhetoric,  Education,  and  Military  Tactics  ;  he  also  left  "  one  hundred  and  sixty 
volumes  of  Extracts,  written  on  both  sides  of  the  leaf,  and  in  the  minutest  hand." 
His  eagerness  to  learn  cost  him  his  life,  for  he  perished  in  approaching  too  near 
Vesuvius,  in  the  great  eruption  which  buried  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  (79  A.  d.). 

X  Tacitus  was  sitting  one  day  in  the  circus  watching  the  games,  when  a  stranger 
entered  into  a  learned  disciuisitipo  with  him,  and,  after  a  while,  inquired,  "  Are  you 


278  ROME. 

They  scanned  and  criticised  each  other's  manuscript,  and  became 
by  their  intimacy  so  linked  with  each  other  that  they  were  jointly 
remembered  in  people's  walls,  legacies  to  friends  being  the  fashion  of 
the  day.  Of  the  writings  of  Tacitus,  there  remain  a  part  of  the 
Annals  and  the  History  of  Mome^  a  treatise  on  Germany,  and  a  Life 
of  Agricola.  Of  Pliny,  we  have  only  the  Epistles  and  an  Eulogium 
upon  Trajan.  The  style  of  Tacitus  was  grave  and  stately,  sometimes 
sarcastic  or  ironical ;  that  of  Pliny  was  vivid,  graceful,  and  circum- 
stantial. 

Seneca  (7  b.  C.-65  a.  d.),  student,  poet,  orator,  and  stoic  philoso- 
pher, employed  his  restless  intellect  in  brilliant  ethical  essays,  trag- 
edies, and  instructive  letters  written  for  the  public  eye,*  His  teach- 
ings were  remarkable  for  their  moral  purity,  and  the  Christian 
Fathers  called  him  "  The  Divine  Pagan." 

Juvenal^  the  mocking,  eloquent,  cynical  satirist,  belongs  to  the 
close  of  the  century.  His  writings  are  unsurpassed  in  scathing 
denunciations  of  vice.t 

Libraries  and  Writing  Materials. — The  Roman  stationery 
differed  little  from  the  Grecian.  The  j)assion  for  collecting  books 
was  now  so  great  that  private  libraries  sometimes  contained  over 
sixty  thousand  volumes.^  The  scribae  -and  libi'arii,  slaves  who  were 
attached  to  library  service,  were  an  important  part  of  a  Roman  gen- 
tleman's household.  Fifty  or  a  hundred  copies  of  a  book  were 
often  made  at  the  same  time,  one  scribe  reading  while  the  others 

of  Italy  or  from  the  provinces?  "  "  You  know  me  from  your  reading,"  replied  the 
historian.    "  Then,"  rejoined  the  other,  "  you  must  be  either  Tacitus  or  Pliny." 

*  Seneca  was  the  tutor  and  guardian  of  the  young  Nero,  and  in  later  days  carried 
his  friendship  so  far  as  to  write  a  defence  of  the  murder  of  Agrippina.  But  Nero 
was  poor  and  in  debt ;  Seneca  was  immensely  rich.  To  charge  him  with  conspiracy, 
sentence  him  to  death,  and  seize  his  vast  estates,  was  a  policy  characteristic  of  Nero. 
Seneca,  then  an  old  man,  met  his  fate  bravely  and  cheerfully.  His  young  wife  re- 
solved to  die  with  him,  and  opened  a  vein  in  her  arm  with  the  same  weapon  with 
which  he  had  punctured  his  own,  but  Nero  ordered  her  wound  to  be  ligatured.  As 
Seneca  suffered  greatly  in  dying,  his  slaves,  to  shorten  hie  pain,  suffocated  him  in  a 
vapor  bath, 

t  Juvenal's  style  is  aptly  characterized  in  his  description  of  another  noted  satirist : 
"  But  when  Lucilius,  fired  with  virtuous  rage. 

Waves  his  keen  falchion  o'er  a  guilty  age, 

The  conscious  villain  shudders  at  his  sin. 

And  burning  blushes  speak  the  pangs  within ; 

Cold  drops  of  sweat  from  every  member  roll. 

And  growing  terrors  harrow  up  his  soul," 
X  Seneca  ridiculed  the  fashionable  pretensions  of  illiterate  men  who  "adorn  their 
rooms  with  thousands  of  books,  the  titles  of  which  are  the  deUght  of  the  yawning 
OWJxer." 


THE     CIVILIZATION. 


279 


wrote  *  Papyrus,  as  it  was  less  expensive  than  parchment,  was  the 
favorite  writing  material.  The  thick  black  ink  used  in  writing  was 
prepared  from  soot  and  gum ;  red  ink  was  employed  for  ruling  the 
columns.      The  Egyptian  reed-pen  (calamus)  was   still  in  vogue. 


ROMAN    LIBRARY. 


*  A  book  was  written  upon  separate  strips  of  papyms.  When  the  woik  was 
completed,  the  strips  were  glued  together;  the  last  page  was  fastened  to  a  hollow 
reed,  over  which  the  whole  was  wound ;  the  bases  of  the  roll  were  carefully  cut, 
smoothed,  and  dyed  ;  a  small  stick  was  passed  through  the  reed,  the  ends  of  which 
were  adorned  with  ivory,  golden,  or  painted  knobs  {umbUici)  ;  the  roll  was  wrapped  in 
parchment,  to  protect  it  from  the  ravages  of  worms,  and  the  title-label  was  affixed  :— 
the  book  was  then  ready  for  the  library  shelf  or  circular  case  (scrinium).  The  portrait 
of  the  author  usually  appeared  on  the  first  page,  and  the  title  of  the  book  was  written 
both  at  the  beginning  and  the  end.  Sheets  of  parchment  were  folded  and  sewed  in 
different  sizes,  like  modern  books.— An  author  read  the  first  manuscript  of  his  new 
work  before  as  large  an  audience  as  he  could  command,  and  judged  from  its  recep- 
tion whether  it  would  pay  to  publish.  "If  you  want  to  recite,"  says  Juvenal, 
"  Maculonus  will  lend  you  his  house,  will  range  his  freedmen  on  the  furthest  benches, 
and  will  put  in  the  proper  places  his  strong-lunged  friends  (these  corresponded  to  our 
modern  claqueurs  or  hired  applaudcrs) ;  but  he  will  not  give  what  it  costs  to  hire 
the  benches,  set  up  the  galleries,  and  fill  the  stage  with  chairs."  These  readings  often 
became  a  bore,  and  Pliny  writes  :  "This  year  has  brought  us  a  great  crop  of  poets. 
Audiences  come  slowly  and  reluctantly  ;  even  then  they  do  not  stop,  but  go  away 
before  the  end ;  some  indeed  by  stealth,  others  with  perfect  opennees/' 


280  ROME. 

There  were  twenty-nine  public  libraries  at  Rome,  of  which  the 
Ulpian,  founded  by  Trajan,  was  the  most  important. 

Education. — As  early  as  450  b.  c.  Rome  had  elementary  schools, 
where  boys  and  girls  were  taught  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and 
music.  The  Roman  boy  mastered  his  alphabet  at  home,  as  most 
children  do  now,  by  playing  with  lettered  blocks.  At  school,  he 
chanted  the  letters,  syllables,  and  words  in  class,  after  the  teacher's 
dictation.  His  arithmetical  calculations  were  carried  on  by  the  aid  of 
his  fingers,  or  with  stone  counters  and  a  tablet  ruled  in  columns — the 
counters  expressing  certain  values  according  to  the  columns  on  which 
they  were  placed.  He  learned  to  write  on  wax  tablets  (p.  178), 
his  little  fingers  being  guided  by  the  firm  hand  of  the  master; 
afterward  he  used  pen  and  ink,  and  the  blank  side  of  second-hand 
slips  of  papyrus.*  Boys  of  wealthy  parents  were  accompanied  to 
school  by  a  slave,  who  carried  their  books,  writing  tablets,  and  count- 
ing boards,  and  also  by  a  Greek  pedagogue,  who,  in  addition  to 
other  duties,  practised  them  in  his  native  language.  Girls  were 
attended  to  and  from  school  by  female  slaves. 

Livius  Andronicus  opened  a  new  era  in  school  education.  Ennius, 
Nsevius,  and  Plautus  added  to  the  text-books  introduced  by  him, 
and  the  study  of  Greek  became  general.  In  later  times,  there  were 
excellent  higher  schools  where  the  master-pieces  of  Greek  and  Latin 
literature  were  carefully  analyzed.  National  jurisprudence  was  not 
neglected,  and  every  school-boy  was  expected  to  repeat  the  Twelve 
Tables  from  memory.  Rhetoric  and  declamation  were  given  great 
importance,  and  boys  twelve  years  old  delivered  set  harangues  on 
the  most  solemn  occasions.!    As  at  Athens,  the  boy  of  sixteen  years 

*  The  copies  set  for  him  were  usually  some  moral  maxim,  and,  doubtless,  many  a 
Roman  school-boy  labored  over  that  trite  proverb  quoted  from  Menander  by  Paul, 
and  which  still  graces  many  a  writing-book  :  "Evil  communications  corrupt  good 
manners."— Roman  schoolmasters  were  very  severe  in  the  use  of  the  ferula.  Plautus 
says  that  for  missing  a  single  letter  in  his  reading,  a  boy  was  "  striped  like  his  nurse's 
cloak"  with  the  black  and  blue  spots  left  by  the  rod.  Horace,  two  centuries  later, 
anathematized  his  teacher  as  Orbilius  plagosus  (Orbilius  of  the  birch) ;  and  Martial, 
the  witty  epigrammatist  and  friend  of  Juvenal,  declares  that  in  his  time  "  the  morn- 
ing air  resounded  with  the  noise  of  floggings  and  the  cries  of  suflfering  urchins." 

t  Julius  Caesar  pronounced  in  his  twelfth  year  the  funeral  oration  of  his  aunt,  and 
Augustus  performed  a  similar  feat.  The  technical  rules  of  rhetoric  and  declamation 
were  so  minute,  that,  while  they  gave  no  play  for  genius,  they  took  away  the  risk  of 
failure.  Not  only  the  form,  the  turns  of  thought,  the  cadences,  everything  except  the 
actual  words,  were  modeled  to  a  pattern,  but  the  manner,  the  movements,  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  dress,  and  the  tones  of  the  voice,  were  subject  to  rigid  rules.  The 
hair  was  to  be  sedulously  coifed  ;  explicit  directions  governed  the  use  of  the  hand- 
kerchief ;  the  orator's  steps  in  advance  or  retreat,  to  right  or  to  left,  were  all  num- 
bered.   He  might  rest  only  so  many  minutes  on  each  foot,  and  place  pue  only  so 


THE     CIVILIZATION 


281 


ROMAN    TOGA. 


formally  entered  into  manhood,  the 
event  being  celebrated  with  certain 
ceremonies  at  home  and  in  the  Forum, 
and  by  the  assumption  of  a  new  style  of 
toga,  or  robe.  He  ^'as  now  allowed  to 
attend  the  instruction  of  any  philoso- 
pher or  rhetorician  he  chose,  and  to 
visit  the  Forum  and  Tribunals,  being 
generally  escorted  by  some  man  of  note 
selected  by  his  father.  He  finished  his 
education  by  a  course  in  Athens. 

Monuments  and  Art. — The  early 
Italian  Temples  were  copied  from  the 
Etruscans ;  the  later  ones  were  modifi- 
cations of  the  Grecian,  Round  temples 
(Etruscan)  were  commonly  dedicated  to 
Vesta  or  Diana ;  sometimes  a  dome  * 
and  portico  were  added,  as  in  the 
Pantheon, 

The  Basilica^  or  Hall  of  Justice, 
was  usually  rectangular,  and  divided  into  three  or  five  aisles  by 
rows  of  columns,  the  middle  aisle  being  widest.  At  the  extremity, 
was  a  semicircular,  arched  recess  {ajjse)  for  the  tribunal,  in  front  of 
which  was  an  altar — all  important  public  business  being  preceded 
by  sacrifice. 

Magnificerct  Palaces  were  built  by  the  Cassars,  of  which  the 
Golden  House  of  Nero,  begun  on  the  Palatine  and  extending  by 
means  of  intermediate  structures  to  the  Esquiliue,  is  a  familiar 
example.!    At  Tibar  (the  modem  Tivoli),  Hadrian  had  a  variety  of 

many  inches  before  the  other ;  the  elbow  must  not  rise  above  a  certain  angle  ;  the 
fingers  should  be  set  off  with  rings,  but  not  too  many  or  too  large  ;  and,  in  raising 
the  hand  to  exhibit  them,  care  must  be  taken  not  to  disturb  the  head-dress.  Every 
emotion  had  its  prescribed  gesture,  and  the  heartiest  applause  of  the  audience  was 
for  the  perfection  of  the  pantomime.  To  run  smoothly  in  all  these  physical  as  well 
as  mental  grooves  of  fashion,  required  incessant  practice,  and  Augustus,  it  is  said, 
"  never  allowed  a  day  to  pass  without  spending  an  hour  in  declamation,  to  keep  his 
lungs  in  regular  exercise  and  maintain  the  armory  of  dialectics  furbished  for  ready 
use." — MerivaWs  Romans. 

*  Vaulted  domes  and  large  porticoes  are  characteristic  of  Roman  architecture. 
The  favorite  column  was  the  Corinthian,  for  which  a  new  composite  capital  was  in- 
vented. The  foundation  stone  of  a  temple  was  laid  on  the  day  consecrated  to  the  god 
to  whom  it  was  erected,  and  the  building  was  made  to  face  the  point  of  the  sun's 
rising  on  that  morning.  The  finest  specimens  of  Roman  temple  architecture  are  at 
Palmyra  and  Baalbec  in  Syria. 

t  A  court  in  front,  surrounded  b^a  triple  colounade  a  mile  long,  contained  tbe 


382  ROME. 

structures,  imitating  and  named  after  the  most  celebrated  buildings 
of  different  provinces,  such  as  the  temple  of  Serapis  at  Canopus  in 
Egypt,  and  the  Lyceum  and  Academy  at  Athens.  Even  the  valley 
of  Tempe,  and  Hades  itself,  were  here  typified  in  a  labyrinth  of 
subterranean  chambers. 

In  Military  Roads,  Bridges,  Aqueducts,  and  Harbors,  the  Romans 
displayed  great  genius.  Even  the  splendors  of  Nero's  golden  house 
dwindles  into  nothing  compared  with  the  harbor  of  Ostia,  the 
drainage  works  of  the  Fucinine  Lake,  and  the  two  large  aqueducts, 
Aqua  Claudia  and  Anio  Nova.* 

Military  Roads. — TJnlike  the  Greeks,  who  generally  left  their 
roads  where  chance  or  custom  led,  the  Romans  sent  out  their  strong 
highways  in  straight  lines  from  the  capital,  overcoming  all  natural 
difficulties  as  they  went ;  filling  in  hollows  and  marshes,  or  spanning 
them  with  viaducts ;  tunneling  rocks  and  mountains ;  bridging 
streams  and  valleys ;  sparing  neither  time,  labor,  nor  money  to  make 
them   perfect.f      Along  the   principal   ones  were   placed  temples, 

emperor's  statue,  oue  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high.  In  other  courts  were  gardens, 
vineyards,  meadows,  great  artificial  ponds  with  rows  of  houses  on  their  banks, 
and  woods  inhabited  by  tame  and  ferocious  animals.  The  walls  of  the  rooms  were 
covered  with  gold  and  jewels ;  and  the  ivory  with  which  the  ceiling  of  the  dining- 
halls  was  inlaid  was  made  to  slide  back,  so  as  to  admit  a  rain  of  roses  or  fragrant 
waters  on  the  heads  of  the  carousers.  Under  Otho,  this  gigantic  building  was  con- 
tinued at  an  expense  of  over  $2,500,000,  but  only  to  be  pulled  down  for  the  greater 
part  by  Vespasian.  Titus  erected  his  Baths  on  the  Esquiline  foundation  of  the  Golden 
Palace,  and  the  Colosseum  covers  the  site  of  one  of  the  ponds. 

*  The  Lacus  Fucinus  in  the  country  of  the  Marsi  was  the  cause  of  dangerous  inun- 
dations. To  prevent  this,  and  to  gain  the  bed  of  the  lake  for  agricultural  pursuits,  a 
shaft  was  cut  through  the  solid  rock  from  the  lake  down  to  the  River  Liris,  whence 
the  water  was  discharged  into  the  Mediterranean.  The  work  occupied  thirty 
thousand  men  for  eleven  years.  The  Aqua  Claudia  was  fed  by  two  springs  in  the 
Sabine  mountain,  and  was  forty-five  Roman  miles  in  length  ;  the  Anio.  Nova,  fed 
from  the  River  Anio,  was  sixty-two  miles  long.  These  aqueducts  extended  partly 
above  and  partly  under  ground,  until  about  six  miles  from  Rome,  where  they  joined 
and  were  carried  one  above  the  other  on  a  common  structure  of  arches— in  some 
places  one  hundred  and  nine  feet  high— into  the  city. 

t  In  building  a  road,  the  line  of  direction  was  first  laid  out,  and  the  breadth,  which 
was  usually  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  feet,  marked  by  trenches.  The  loose  earth  be- 
tween the  trenches  having  been  excavated  till  a  firm  base  was  reached,  the  space 
was  filled  up  to  the  proposed  height  of  the  road — which  was  sometimes  twenty  feet 
above  the  solid  ground.  First  was  placed  a  layer  of  small  stones  ;  next,  broken 
stones  cemented  with  lime  ;  then,  a  mixture  of  lime,  clay,  and  beaten  fragments  of 
brick  and  pottery ;  and  finally,  a  mixture  of  pounded  gravel  artd  lime,  or  a  pavement 
of  hard,  flat  stones,  cut  into  rectangular  slabs  or  irregular  polygons.  All  along  the 
roads  milestones  were  erected.  Near  the  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus  in  the  Roman 
Forum  may  still  be  seen  the  remains  of  the  "  Golden  Milestone  "  (erected  by  Augus- 
tus)—a  gilded  marble  pillar  on  which  were  reporded  tlie  WSOJ^S  Of  tbe  roftds  8,nd 
tb^ir  length  froiB  tbe  cjetropolie. 


THE     CIVILIZATION 


283 


triumphal  arches,  and  sepulchral  monuments.  The  Appian  Way — 
called  also  Reglna  Vlarum  or  Queen  of  Roads — was  famous  for  the 
number,  beauty,  and  richness  of  its  tombs.  Its  foundations  were 
laid  313  b.  c.  by  the  censor  Appius  Claudius,  from  whom  it  was 
named. 


BRIDGE   OF  ST.    ANGELO,   AND    HADRIAn's   TOMB    (RESTORED). 

The  Roman  Bridges  and  Viadvcts  are  among  the  most  remarkable 
monuments  of  antiquity.  In  Greece,  where  the  streams  were  nar- 
row, little  attention  was  paid  to  bridges,  which  were  usually  of  wood, 
resting  at  each  extremity  upon  stone  piers.  The  Romans  applied 
the  arch,  of  which  the  Greeks  knew  little  or  nothing,  to  the  con- 
struction of  massive  stone  bridges  *  crossing  the  wide  rivers  of  their 
various  provinces.  In  like  manner,  marshy  places  or  valleys  liable 
to  inundation  were  spanned  by  viaducts  resting  on  solid  arches. 
Of  these  bridges,  which  may  still  be  seen  in  nearly  every  corner  of 
the  old  Roman  Empire,  one  of  the  most  interesting  is  the  Pons 


*  In  early  times,  the  bridges  across  tlie  Tiber  were  regarded  as  sacred,  and  their 
care  was  confided  to  a  special  body  of  priests,  called  pontiflces  (bridge-makers).  The 
name  ot  Pontifex  Maximus  remained  attached  to  the  High  Priest,  and  was  worn  by 
the  Koman  emperor.  It  is  now  given  to  the  Pope.  Bridges  were  sometimes  made 
pf  wood- work  and  masonry  combined. 


284  KOME. 

^lius,  now  called  the  Bridge  of  St.  Angelo,  built  by  Hadrian  across 
the  Tiber  in  Rome. 

Aqueducts  were  constructed  on  the  most  stupendous  scale,  and 
at  one  time  no  less  than  twenty  stretched  their  long  lines  of  arches  * 
across  the  Campagna,  bringing  into  the  heart  of  the  city  as  many 
streams  of  water  from  scores  of  miles  away. 

In  their  stately  Harbors  the  Romans  showed  the  same  defiance 
of  natural  difficulties.  The  lack  of  bays  and  promontories  was 
supplied  by  dams  and  Malls  built  far  out  into  the  sea;  and  even 
artificial  islands  were  constructed  to  protect  the  equally  artificial 
harbor.  Thus,  at  Ostia,  three  enormous  pillars,  made  of  chalk, 
mortar,  and  Pozzuolan  clay,  were  placed  upright  on  the  deck  of  a 
colossal  ship,  which  was  then  sunk ;  the  action  of  the  salt  water 
hardening  the  clay,  rendered  it  indestructible,  and  formed  an  island 
foundation.  Other  islands  were  made  by  sinking  flat  vessels,  loaded 
with  huge  blocks  of  stone.  Less  imposing,  but  no  less  useful  were 
the  canals  and  ditches^  by  means  of  which  swamps  and  bogs  were 
transformed  into  arable  land  ;  and  the  subterranean  sewers  in  Rome, 
which,  built  twenty-five  hundred  years  ago,  still  serve  their  original 
purj)ose.     ■ 

Triumphal  Arches,-f  erected  at  the  entrance  of  cities,  and  across 
streets,  bridges,  and  public  roads,  in  honor  of  victorious  generals  or 
emperors,  or  in  commemoration  of  some  great  event,  were  peculiar 
to  the  Romans  ;  as  were  also  the 

Amphitheatres,^  of  which  the  Flavian,  better  known  as  the  Colos- 
seum, is  the  most  famous.     This  structure  was  built  mostly  of  blocks 

*  Their  remains,  striking  across  the  desolate  Campagna  in  various  directions  and 
covered  with  ivy,  maiden-liair,  wild  flowers,  and  fig-trees,  form  one  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque features  in  the  landscape  about  Rome.  "  Wherever  you  go,  these  arches 
are  visible  ;  and  toward  nightfall,  glowing  in  the  splendor  of  a  Roman  sunset,  and 
printing  their  lengthening  sun-looped  shadows  upon  the  illuminated  slopes,  they  look 
as  if  the  hand  of  Midas  had  touched  them,  and  changed  their  massive  blocks  of  cork- 
like  travertine  into  crusty  courses  of  molten  gold.'''— Story's  Moba  di  Roma. 

t  Many  of  these  arches  still  remain.  The  principal  ones  in  Rome  are  those  of 
Titus  and  Constantine,  near  the  Colosseum,  and  that  of  Septimius  Severus  in  the 
Roman  Forum.  The  Arch  of  Titus,  built  of  white  marble,  commemorates  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem.  On  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  interior  are  represented  the  golden 
table,  the  seven -branched  candlestick,  and  other  precious  spoils  from  the  Jewish 
Temple,  carried  in  triumphal  procession  by  the  victors.  To  this  day,  no  Jew  will 
walk  under  this  Arch. 

%  The  Roman  theatre  difi"ered  little  from  the  Grecian.  The  first  amphitheatre, 
made  in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  consisted  of  two  wooden  theatres,  so  placed  upon 
pivots  that  they  could  be  wheeled  around,  spectators  and  all,  and  either  set  back  to 
back,  for  two  separate  dramatic  performances,  or  f»ce  to  face,  making  a  closed  arena 
for  gladiatorial  shows. 


fHfl     CIVILIZATION. 


285 


of  travertine,  clamped  with  iron  and  faced  with  marble ;  it  covered 
about  five  acres,  and  seated  eighty  thousand  persons.  At  its 
dedication  by  Titus  (a.  d.  80),  which  lasted  a  hundred  days,  five 
thousand  wild  animals  were  thrown  into  the  arena.  It  continued 
to  be  used  for  gladiatorial  and  wild-beast  fights  for  nearly  four 
hundred  years.  On  various  public  occasions  it  was  splendidly  fitted 
up  with  gold,  silver,  or  amber  furniture. 


THE   RUINS   OF  THE   COLOSSEUM. 


The  ThermcB  (public  baths,  \\iex2i\\j  warm  waters)  were  constructed 
on  the  grandest  scale  of  refinement  and  luxury.  The  Baths  of 
Caracalla,  at  Rome,  contained  sixteen  hundred  rooms,  adorned  with 
])recious  marbles.  Here  were  painting  and  sculpture  galleries, 
libraries  and  museums,  porticoed  halls,  open  groves,  and  an  imperial 
palace. 

The  arts  of  Painting^  Sculpture^  and  Pottery  were  borrowed  first 
from  the  Etruscans,  and  then  from  the  Greeks ;  *  in  mosaics^  the 


*  "  Roman  art,"  says  Zerfll,  "  is  a  misnomer;  it  is  Etruscan,  Greek,  Assyrian,  and 
Egyptian  art,  dressed  in  an  eclectic  Roman  garb  by  foreign  artists.  The  Pantheon 
contained  a  Greek  statue  of  Venus,  which,  it  is  said,  had  in  one  ear  the  half  of  the 
pearl  left  by  Cleopatra.  To  ornament  a  Greek  marble  statue  representing  a  goddess 
with  part  of  the  earring  of  an  Egyptian  princess,  is  highly  characteristic  of  Roman 
taste  in  matters  of  art." 


2S6  ROME. 

Komans  excelled*  In  later  times,  Rome  was  filled  with  the  mag- 
nificent spoils  taken  from  conquered  provinces,  especially  Greece. 
Greek  artists  fiooded  the  capital,  bringing  their  native  ideality  to 
serve  the  ambitious  desires  of  the  more  practical  Romans,  whose 
dwellings  grew  more  and  more  luxurious,  until  exquisitely-frescoed 
walls,  mosaic  pavements,  rich  paintings,  and  marble  statues  became 
common  ornaments  in  hundreds  of  elegant  villas. 


3.    THE    MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

General  Character. — However  much  they  might  come  in  con- 
tact, the  Roman  and  the  Greek  character  never  assimilated.  We  have 
seen  the  Athenian  quick  at  intuition,  polished  in  manner,  art-loving, 
beauty-worshipping ;  fond  of  long  discussions  and  philosoi)hical  dis- 
courses, and  listening  all  day  to  sublime  tragedies.  We  find  the  Roman 
grave,  steadfast,  practical,  stern,  unsympathizing ;  f  too  loyal  and 
sedate  to  indulge  in  much  discussion  ;  too  unmetapliysical  to  relish 
philosophy  ;  and  too  unideal  to  enjoy  tragedy.  The  Spartan  deified 
endurance  ;  the  Athenian  worshipped  beauty ;  the  Roman  was  em- 
bodied dignity.  The  Greeks  were  proud  and  exclusive,  but  not  un- 
co urteous  to  other  nations  ;  the  Romans  had  but  one  word  (hostis)  for 
strangers  and  enemies.  Ambitious,  determined,  unflinching,  they 
pushed  their  armies  in  every  direction  of  the  known  world,  and,  appro- 
priating every  valuable  achievement  of  the  peoples  they  conquered, 

*  The  mosaic  floors,  composed  of  bits  of  marble,  glass,  and  valuable  stones,  were 
often  of  most  elaborate  designs.  One  discovered  in  the  so-called  House  of  the  Faun, 
at  Pompeii,  is  a  remarkable  battle  scene,  supposed  to  represent  Alexander  at  Issus. 
It  is  preserved,  somewhat  mutilated,  in  the  museum  at  Naples. 

t  What  we  call  sentiment  was  almost  unknown  to  the  Romans.  The  Greeks 
had  a  word  to  express  affectionate  family  love ;  tbe  Romans  had  none,  Cicero, 
whom  his  countrymen  could  not  understand,  was  laughed  at  for  his  grief  at  the  death 
of  his  daughter.  The  exposure  of  infants  was  sanctioned  as  in  Greece— girls,  espe- 
cially, suffering  from  this  unnatural  custom— and  the  power  of  the  Roman  father 
over  the  life  of  his  children  was  paramount.  Yet,  Roman  fathers  took  much  pains 
with  their  boys,  sharing  in  their  games  and  pleasures,  directing  their  habits,  and 
taking  them  about  town.  Horace  writes  gratefully  of  his  father,  who  remained  with 
him  at  Rome  during  his  school-days  and  was  his  constant  attendant.    (Sat.  I.  4.) 

It  is  not  strange,  considering  their  indifference  to  their  kindred,  that  the  Romans 
were  cruel  and  heartless  to  their  slaves.  In  Greece,  even  the  helot  was  granted  some 
little  consideration  as  a  human  being,  but  in  Rome  the  unhappy  captive— who  may 
have  been  a  prince  in  his  own  land— was  but  a  chattel.  The  lamprey  eels  in  a  certain 
nobleman's  fish-pond  were  fattened  on  the  flesh  of  his  bondmen  ;  and,  if  a  Roman 
died  suspiciously,  all  his  slaves— who  sometimes  were  numbered  by  thousands- 
were  put  to'  the  torture.  The  women  are  aecused  of  being  more  pitiless  than  the 
men,  and  the  faces  of  the  ladies'  maids  bore  perpetual  marks  of  the  blows,  scratches, 
and  pin-stabs  of  their  petulant  mistresses. 


THE     MANI^EES     AKD     CUSTOMS.  387 

made  all  the  borrowed  arts  their  own,  lavishing  the  precious  spoils 
upon  their  beloved  Rome.  Their  pride  in  Roman  citizenship  amounted 
to  a  passion,  and  for  the  prosperity  of  their  capital  they  were  ready  to 
renounce  the  dearest  personal  hope,  and  to  cast  aside  all  mercy  or 
justice  toward  every  other  nation. 

Religion. — The  Romans,  like  the  Greeks,  worshipped  the  powers 
of  Nature.  But  the  Grecian  gods  and  goddesses  were  living,  loving, 
hating,  quarrelsome  beings,  with  a  history  full  of  romantic  incident 
and  personal  adventure  ;  the  Roman  deities  were  solemn  abstractions 
mysteriously  governing  every  human  action,*  and  requiring  constant 
propitiation  with  vows,  prayers,  gifts,  and  sacrifices.  A  regular  system 
of  bargaining  existed  between  the  Roman  worshipper  and  his  gods. 
If  he  performed  all  the  stipulated  religious  duties,  the  gods  were 
bound  to  confer  a  reward  ;  if  he  failed  in  the  least,  the  divine  ven- 
geance was  sure.  At  the  same  time,  if  he  could  detect  a  flaw  in 
the  letter  of  the  law,  or  shield  himself  behind  some  doubtful  techni- 
cality, he  might  cheat  the  gods  with  impunity,  f  Ihere  was  no  room 
for  faith,  or  hope,  or  love — only  the  binding  nature  of  legal  forms. 
Virtue,  in  our  modern  sense,  was  unknown,  and  piety  consisted,  as 
Cicero  declares,  in  "justice  toward  the  gods." 

In  religion,  as  in  everything  else,  the  Romans  were  always  ready 
to  borrow  from  other  nations.  Their  image-worship  came  from  the 
Etruscans  ;  their  only  sacred  volumes:}:  were  the  purchased  "  Sibylline 
Books  ";  they  drew  upon  the  gods  of  Greece,  until,  in  time,  they  liad 
transferred  and  adopted  nearly  the  entire  Greek  Pantheon  ;  ^5  Phoenicia 

*  The  farmer  had  to  satisfy  "  the  spirit  of  breaking  up  the  land  and  the  spirit  of 
ploughing  it  crosswise,  the  spirit  of  furrowing  and  the  spirit  of  harrowing,  the  spirit 
of  weeding  and  the  spirit  of  reaping,  the  spirit  of  carrying  the  grain  to  the  barn  and 
the  spirit  of  bringing  it  out  again."  The  little  child  was  attended  by  over  forty 
gods.  Vaticanus  taught  him  to  cry ;  Fabulinus,  to  speak  ;  Edusa,  to  eat ;  Potina,  to 
drink ;  Abeoua  conducted  him  out  of  the  house  ;  Interduca  guided  him  on  his  way ; 
Domidfica  led  him  home,  and  Adeona  brought  him  in.  So,  also,  there  were  deities 
controlling  health,  society,  love,  anger,  and  all  the  passions  and  virtues  of  men. 

t  "  If  a  man  offered  wine  to  Father  Jupiter,  and  did  not  mention  very  precisely 
that  it  was  only  the  cup-full  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  the  god  might  claim  the 
whole  year's  vintage.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  god  required  so  many  heads  in 
sacrifice,  by  the  letter  of  the  bond  he  would  be  bound  to  accept  garlic-heads  ;  if  he 
claimed  an  animal,  it  might  be  made  out  of  dough  or  vra,x.'^—WUMns''s  Bom.  Antiq. 

X  "  Neither  Romans  nor  Greeks  had  any  sacred  books.  They  have  left  poetry  of 
the  highest  order,  but  no  psalms  or  hymns,  litanies  or  prayers,  as  the  Egyptians  have 
so  largely  ^oney—Renouf. 

§  Jupiter  (Zeus)  and  Vesta  (Hestia)  were  derived  by  Greeks  and  Romans  from 
their  common  ancestors.  Among  the  other  early  Italian  gods  were  Mars  (afterward 
identified  with  the  Greek  Ares),  Hercules  (Herakles).  Juno  (Hera),  Minerva  (Athena), 
and  Neptune  (Poseidon).  The  union  of  the  Palatine  Romans  with  the  Quirinal 
Sabines  was  celebrated  by  the  mutual  worship  of  Quirinus,  and  a  gate  called  the 
Janus  was  erected  in  the  valley,  afterward  the  site  of  the  Forum.    This  gate  was 


288 


ROME. 


and  Phrygia  lent  their  deities  to  swell  the 
list ;  and,  finally,  our  old  Egyptian  friends, 
Isis,  Osiris,  and  Serapis,  became  as  much 
at  home  upon  the  Tiber  as  they  had  been 
for  ages  on  the  Nile.    The  original  religious 
ideas  of  the  Romans  can  only  be  inferred 
from  a  few  peculiar  rites  which  character- 
ized their  worship.      The  Chaldeans  had 
astrologers ;   the   Persians  had  magi ;   the 
Greeks  had  sibyls  and  oracles  ;  the  Romans 
had 
Augurs.      Practical  and   unimaginative,  the 
Latins  would  never  have  been  content  to  learn 
the  divine  will  through  the  ambiguous  phrases 
of  a  human  prophet  ;  they  demanded  a  direct  yes 
or  no  from  the  gods  themselves.    Augurs  existed 
from  the  time  of  Romulus.     Without  their  as- 
sistance no   public  act   or    ceremony  could  be 
performed.     Lightning  and  the  flight  of  birds 
were  the  principal  signs  by  which  the  gods  were 
supposed  to    make  known   their  will  ;*    some 
birds  of  omen  communicated  by  their  cry,  others  by  their  manner  of 
flight. 

The  Haruspices,  who  also  expounded  lightnings  and  natural  phe- 
nomena, made  a  specialty  of  divination  by  inspecting  the  internal 
organs  of  sacrificed  animals,  a  custom  we  have  seen  in  Greece  (p.  185). 


ROMAN  AUGUR. 


always  open  in  time  of  war,  and  closed  in  time  of  peace.  All  gates  and  doors  were 
sacred  to  the  old  Latin  god  Janus,  whose  key  fitted  every  lock.  He  wore  two  faces, 
one  before  and  one  behind,  and  was  the  god  of  all  beginnings  and  endings,  all  open- 
ings and  shuttings.— With  the  adoption  of  the  Greek  gods,  the  Greek  ideas  of  per- 
sonality and  mythology  were  introduced,  the  Romans  being  too  unimaginatiye  to 
originate  any  myths  for  themselves.  But,  out  of  the  hardness  of  their  own  character, 
they  disfigured  the  original  conception  of  every  borrowed  god,  and  made  him  more 
jealous,  threatening,  merciless,  revengeful,  and  inexorable  than  before.  "  Among  the 
thirty  thousand  deities  with  which  they  peopled  the  visible  and  invisible  worlds,  there 
was  not  one  divinity  of  kindness,  mercy,  or  comfort." 

*  In  taking  the  auspices,  the  augur  stood  in  the  center  of  a  con-  n 

secra ted  square,  and  divided  the  sky  with  his  staff  into  quarters  (cut); 
he  then  offered  his  prayers  and,  turning  to  the  south,  scanned  the 
heavens  for  a  reply.  Coming  from  the  left,  the  signs  were  favorable ; 
from  the  right,  unfavorable.  If  the  first  signs  were  not  desirable, 
the  augurs  had  only  to  wait  until  the  right  ones  came.    They  thus  " 

compelled  the  gods  to  sanction  their  decisions,  from  which  there  was  afterward  no 
appeal.  In  the  absence  of  an  augur,  the  "Sacred  Chickens,"  which  were  carried 
about  in  coops  during  campaigns,  were  consulted.  If  they  ate  their  food  greedily, 
especially  if  they  scattered  it,  the  omen  was  favorable  ;  if  they  reftised  to  eat,  or 
moped  in  the  coop,  evil  was  anticipated ! 


THE     MAKNERS     A I^^  D     CUSTOMS.  289 

Their  art  was  never  much  esteemed  by  the  more  enlightened  classes, 
and  Cato,  who  detested  their  hypocrisy,  said  that  "  one  haruspex  could 
not  even  look  at  another  in  the  streets  without  laughing." 

The  family  worship  of  Vesta,  Goddess  of  the  Hearth,  was  more 
exclusive  in  Rome  than  in  Greece,  where  slaves  joined  in  the  home 
devotions.  A  Roman  father,  himself  the  Priest  at  this  ceremony, 
would  have  been  shocked  at  allowing  any  but  a  kinsman  to  be  present, 
for  it  included  the  worship  of  the  Lares  and  Penates,  the  spirits  of 
his  ancestors  and  the  guardians  of  his  house.  So,  also,  in  the  public 
service  at  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  the  national  hearth-stone,  the  patricians 
felt  it  a  sacrilege  for  any  but  themselves  to  join.  The  worship  of 
Vesta,  Saturnus  (the  god  of  seed-sowing),  and  Opo  (the  harvest-god- 
dess), was  under  the  direction  of  the 

College  of  Pontifices,  of  which,  in  regal  times,  the  king  was  high- 
priest.  Attached  to  this  priestly  college — the  highest  in  Rome — were 
the  Flamens*  {flare,  to  blow  the  fire),  who  were  Priests  of  Jupiter, 
Mars,  and  Quirinus  ;  and  the  Vestal  Virgins,  who  watched  the  eternal 
fire  in  the  Temple  of  Vesta.f 

The  Salii,  or  "  leaping  priests,"  received  their  name  from  the  war- 
like dance  which,  dressed  in  full  armor,  they  performed  every  March 
before  all  the  temples.  They  had  the  care  of  the  Sacred  Shields,  which 
they  carried  about  in  their  annual  processions,  beating  them  to  the 

*  The  Flamen  Dialls  (Priest  of  Jupiter)  was  forbidden  to  take  an  oath,  monnt  a 
horse,  or  glance  at  an  army.  His  hand  could  touch  nothing  unclean,  and  he  never 
approached  a  corpse  or  a  tomh.  As  he  must  not  look  at  a  fetter,  the  ring  on  his 
finger  was  a  hroken  one,  and,  as  he  could  not  wear  a  knot,  his  thick  woolen  toga, 
woven  hy  his  wife,  was  fastened  with  buckles.  (In  Egypt,  we  remember,  priests 
were  forbidden  to  wear  woolen,  p.  20.)  If  his  head-dress  (a  sort  of  circular  pillow,  on 
the  top  of  which  an  olive-branch  was  fastened  by  a  white  woolen  thread)  chanced  to 
fall  off,  he  was  obliged  to  resign  his  office.  In  his  belt  he  carried  the  sacrificial  knife, 
and  in  his  hand  he  held  a  rod  to  keep  off  the  people  on  his  way  to  sacrifice.  As  he 
might  not  look  on  any  secular  employment,  he  was  preceded  by  a  lictor,  who  com- 
pelled every  one  to  lay  down  his  work  till  the  Flamen  had  passed.  His  duties  were 
continuous,  and  he  could  not  remain  for  a  night  away  from  his  house  on  the  Palatine. 
His  wife  was  subject  to  an  equally  rigid  code.  She  wore  long  woolen  robes,  and 
shoes  made  of  the  leather  of  sacrificed  animals.  Her  hair  was  tied  with  a  purple 
woolen  ribbon,  over  which  was  a  kerchief,  fastened  with  the  bough  of  a  lucky  tree. 
She  also  carried  a  sacrificial  knife. 

t  T?i€  Vestal  always  dressed  in  white,  with  a  broad  band,  like  a  diadem,  round 
her  forehead.  During  sacrifice  or  in  processions,  she  was  covered  with  a  white  veil. 
She  was  chosen  for  the  service  when  from  six  to  ten  years  old,  and  her  vows  held  for 
thirty  years,  after  which  time,  if  she  chose,  she  was  released  and  might  marry. 
Any  offence  offered  her  was  punished  with  death.  In  public,  every  one,  even  the 
consul,  made  way  for  the  lictor  preceding  the  maiden,  and  she  had  the  seat  of  honor 
at  all  public  games  and  priestly  banquets.  If,  however,  she  accidentally  suffered  the 
sacred  fire  to  go  out,  she  was  liable  to  corporeal  punishment  by  the  pontifex  maxi- 
mus ;  if  she  broke  her  vows,  she  was  carried  on  a  bier  to  the  Campus  Sceleratus, 
beaten  with  rods,  and  buried  alive.  The  number  of  vestal  virgins  never  exceeded 
six  at  any  one  time. 


290  ROME. 

measure  of  an  old-time  song  in  praise  of  Janus,  Jupiter,  Juno,  Minerva, 
and  Mars.  One  of  the  shields  was  believed  to  have  fallen  from 
Heaven.  To  mislead  a  possible  pillager  of  so  precious  a  treasure, 
eleven  more  were  made  exactly  like  it,  and  twelve  priests  were  ap- 
pointed to  watch  them  all. 

The  Fetiales  had  charge  of  the  sacred  rites  accompanying  declara- 
tions of  war,  or  treaties  of  peace.  War  was  declared  by  throwing  a 
bloody  spear  across  the  enemy's  frontier.  A  treaty  was  concluded  by 
the  killing  of  a  pig  with  a  sacred  pebble. 

Altars  were  erected  to  the  Emperors,  where  vows  and  prayers 
were  daily  offered.*  In  the  times  of  Roman  degeneracy,  the  city  was 
flooded  with  quack  Chaldean  astrologers,  Syrian  seers,  and  Jewish 
fortune-tellers.  The  women,  especially,  were  ruled  by  these  corrupt 
impostors,  whom  they  consulted  in  secret  and  by  night,  and  on  whom 
they  squandered  immense  sums.  Under  these  debasing  influences, 
profligacies  and  enormities  of  every  kind  grew  and  multiplied.  The 
old  Roman  law  which  commanded  that  the  parricide  should  be 
"  sewn  up  in  a  sack  with  a  viper,  an  ape,  a  dog,  and  a  cock,  and  then 
cast  into  the  sea,"  was  not  likely  to  be  rigidly  enforced  when  a  parri- 
cide sat  on  the  throne,  and  poisonings  were  common  in  the  palace. 
That  the  pure  principles  of  Christianity,  which  were  introduced  at 
this  time,  should  meet  with  contempt,  and  its  disciples  with  bitter 
persecution,  was  inevitable. 

Games  and  Festivals. — The  Roman  public .  games  were  a 
degraded  imitation  of  the  Grecian,  and,  like  them,  connected  with 
religion.  When  a  divine  favor  was  desired,  a  vow  of  certain  games 
was  made,  and,  as  the  gods  regarded  promises  with  suspicion,  the 
expenses  were  at  once  raised.  Each  of  the  great  gods  had  his  own 
festival-month  and  day. 

The  Saturnalia,  which  occurred  in  December,  and  which,  in  later 
times,  lasted  seven  days,  was  the  most  remarkable.  It  was  a  time  of 
general  mirth  and  feasting ;  schools  were  closed ;  the  senate  adjourned ; 
presents  were  made  ;  wars  were  forgotten ;  criminals  had  certain 
privileges  ;  and  the  slaves,  whose  lives  were  ordinarily  at  the  mercy 
of  their  masters,  were  permitted  to  jest  with  them,  and  were  even 
waited  upon  by  them  at  table  ; — all  this  in  memory  of  the  free  and 
golden  rule  of  ancient  Saturn. 

The  gymnastic  and  musical  exercises  of  the  Greeks  never  found 
much  favor  in  Rome  ;  tragedies  were  tolerated  only  for  the  splendor 
of  the  costumes  and  the  scenic  wonders  ;  and  even  comedies  failed  to 

*  "  Not  even  the  Egyptians,  crouching  in  grateful  admiration  hef  ore  a  crocodile,  so 
outraged'  humanity  as  did  those  polite  Romans,  rendering  divine  honors  to  an  em- 
peror like  Aurelius  Comraodiis,  who  fought  seven  hundred  and  thirty-five  times  as  a 
common  gladiator  in  the  arena  before  his  enervated  people."— Ze?:^. 


THE     MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS. 


291 


satisfy  a  Roman  audience.  Farces  and  pantomimes  won  great  ap* 
plause  ;  horse  and  chariot  races  were  exciting  pleasures  from  the  time 
of  the  kings  ;  but,  of  all  delights,  nothing  could  stir  Rome  like  a 
gladiatorial  or  wild-beast  fight.  At  first  connected  with  the  Saturnalia, 
the  sports  of  the  arena  soon  became  too  popular  to  be  restricted,  and 
mourning  sons  in  high  life  paid  honors  to  a  deceased  father  by 
furnishing  a  public  fight,  in  which  from  twenty-five  to  seventy -five 
gladiators  were  hired  to  take  part,  the  contest  often  lasting  for  days. 


Tiit:   GLADIATORS   CpOLLICE    VERSA,"    J'AIMING    BY    GEROME). 


Gladiatorial  Shoics  were  advertised  by  private  circulars  or  public 
announcements.  On  the  day  of  the  performance,  the  gladiators  marched 
in  solemn  procession  to  the  arena,  where  they  were  matched  in  pairs,* 

*  The  gladiators  fought  in  pairs  or  in  matched  numbers.  A  favorite  duel  was 
between  a  man  without  arms,  but  who  carried  a  net  in  which  to  ensnare  his  opponent 
and  a  three-pronged  fork  with  which  to  spear  him  when  caught,  and  another  man  in 
full  armor,  whose  safety  lay  in  evading  his  enemy  while  he  pursued  and  killed  him. 
"It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  aspect  of  an  amphitheatre  when  gladiators 
fought.  The  audience  became  frantic  with  excitement ;  they  rose  from  their  seats  ; 
they  yelled  ;  they  shouted  their  applause  as  a  ghastly  blow  was  dealt  which  sent  the 
life-blood  spouting  forth.  'Hoc  habet'—'he  has  it'— 'he  has  it,' burst  from  ten 
thousand  throats,  and  was  re-echoed,  not  only  by  a  brutalized  populace,  but  by 


292  BOME. 

and  their  weapons  formally  examined.  "  An  awning  gorgeous  with 
purple  and  gold  excluded  the  rays  of  the  midday  sun  ;  sweet  strains 
of  music  floated  iii  the  air,  drowning  the  cries  of  death ;  the  odor  of 
Syrian  perfumes  overpowered  the  scent  of  blood  ;  the  eye  was  feasted 
by  the  most  brilliant  scenic  decorations,  and  amused  by  elaborate 
machinery."  At  the  sound  of  a  bugle  and  the  shout  of  command,  the 
battle  opened.  When  a  gladiator  was  severely  wounded,  he  dropped 
his  weapons,  and  held  up  his  forefinger  as  a  plea  for  his  life.  This 
was  sometimes  in  the  gift  of  the  people ;  often  the  privilege  of  the 
vestal  virgins  ;  in  imperial  times,  the  prerogative  of  the  emperor.  A 
turned-down  thumb  or  the  waving  of  a  handkerchief  extended  mercy  ; 
a  clenched  and  upright  fist  forbade  all  hope.  Cowards  had  nothing  to 
expect,  and  were  whipped  or  branded  with  hot  irons  till  they  resumed 
the  fight.  The  killed  and  mortally  wounded  were  dragged  out  of  the 
arena  with  a  hook. 

The  Wild-Beast  Mghts  were  still  more  revolting,  especially  when 
untrained  captives  or  criminals  were  forced  to  the  encounter.  Many 
Christian  martyrs,  some  of  whom  were  delicate  women,  perished  in 
the  Colosseum.  We  read  of  twenty  maddened  elephants  turned  in 
upon  six  hundred  war  captives,  and,  in  Trajan's  games,  which  lasted 
over  one  hundred  and  twenty  days,  ten  thousand  gladiators  fought,  and 
over  that  number  of  wild  beasts  were  slain.  Sometimes,  the  animals, 
made  furious  by  hunger  or  fire,  were  let  loose  at  one  another.  Great 
numbers  of  the  most  ferocious  beasts  were  imported  from  distant 
countries  for  these  combats.  Strange  animals  were  sought  after,  and 
camelopards,  white  elephants,  the  rhinoceros,  and  the  hippopotamus, 
goaded  to  fury,  delighted  the  assembled  multitudes.  Noble  game  be- 
came scarce,  and  at  last  it  was  forbidden  by  law  to  kill  a  Getulian  lion 
out  of  the  arena,  even  in  self-defence. 

Nwiiol  Fights,  in  flooded  arenas,  were  also  popular.  The  Colosseum 
was  scmetimes  used  for  this  purpose,  as  many  as  thirty  vessels  taking 
part.  At  an  entertainment  given  by  Augustus  in  the  flooded  arena  of 
the  Flaminian  circus,  thirty-six  crocodiles  were  pursued  and  killed. 

Marriage  was  of  two  kinds.  In  one,  the  bride  passed  from  the 
control  of   her  father  into  that  of  her  husband ;  in  the  other,  the 

imperial  lips,  by  purple-clad  senators  and  knights,  by  noble  matrons  and  consecrated 
maids."— >S^Aej9?>arc?'s  Fall  of  Rome.  So  frenzied  witli  the  sight  of  blood  did  the 
spectators  become  that  they  would  rush  into  the  arena  and  slay  on  every  side ;  and 
so  sweet  was  the  applause  of  the  mob  that  captives,  slaves,  and  criminals  were  envied 
the  monopoly  of  the  gladiatorial  contest,  and  laws  were  required  to  restrict  knights 
and  senators  from  entering  the  lists.  Some  of  the  emperors  fought  publicly  in  the 
arena,  and  even  women  thus  debased  themselves.  Finally,  such  was  the  mania,  that 
no  wealthy  or  patrician  family  was  without  its  gladiators,  and  no  festival  was  complete 
without  a  contest.  Even  at  banquets,  blood  was  the  only  stimulant  that  roused  the 
jaded  appetite  of  a  Soman. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS. 


293 


1 

'  'Ml 

1 

> 

¥jI 

M 

m 

^) 

^m 

3 

m 

^l^^gjl 

^^H 

^=^^ 

DRESSING  A   ROMAN    BRIDE. 


parental  power  was  retained.  The  former 
kind  of  marriage  could  be  contracted  in 
any  one  of  three  diilerent  ways.  Of  these, 
the  religious  form  was  confined  to  the 
patricians ;  the  presence  of  the  pontifex 
maximus,  the  priest  of  Jupiter,  and  ten 
citizens  was  necessary  as  witnesses ;  a 
sacred  cake  {far)  was  broken  and  solemnly 
tasted  by  the  nuptial  pair,  whence  this 
ceremony  was  termed  confarreatio.  A 
second  manner  was  by  purchase  (coemptio), 
in  which  the  father  .formally  sold  his 
daughter  to  the  groom,  she  signifying  her 
consent  before  witnesses.  The  third  form, 
by  prescription  (nsus),  consisted  simply  in 
the  parties  having  lived  together  for  a  year 
without  being  separated  for  three  days  at 
any  time. 

The  marriage  ceremony  proper  differed 
little  in  the  various  forms.     The  betrothal 

consisted  of  the  exchange  of  the  words  spondesne  (do  you  promise  ?) 
and  spondeo  (I  promise),  followed  by  the  gift  of  a  ring  from  the 
groom.  On  the  wedding-morning,  the  guests  assembled  at  the  house 
of  the  bride's  father,  where  the  auspices — which  had  been  taken 
before  sunrise  by  an  augur  or  a  haruspex — were  declared,  and  the 
solemn  marriage  contract  was  spoken.  The  bride's  attendant  then 
laid  her  hands  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  newly-married  pair,  and  led 
them  to  the  family  altar,  around  which  they  walked  hand-in-hand, 
while  a  cow,  a  pig,  and  a  sheep  were  offered  in  sacrifice — the  gall 
having  been  first  extracted  and  thrown  away,  to  signify  the  removal 
of  all  bitterness  from  the  occasion.  The  guests  having  made  their 
congratulations,  the  feast  began.  At  nightfall,  the  bride  was  torn 
with  a  show  of  force  from  her  mother's  arms  (in  memory  of  the  seizure 
of  the  Sabine  women,  p.  206) ;  two  boys,  whose  parents  were  both 
alive,  supported  her  by  the  arms ;  torches  were  lighted,  and  a  gay 
procession,  as  in  Greece,  accompanied  the  party  to  the  house  of  the 
groom.  Here  the  bride,  having  repeated  to  her  spouse  the  formula, 
"  Ubi  tu  Calus,  ibi  ego  Gaia  "  (Where  thou  art  Caius,  I  am  Caia), 
anointed  the  door-posts  and  wound  them  with  wool,  and  was  lifted 
over  the  threshold.  Having  been  formally  welcomed  into  the  atrium 
by  her  husband,  they  both  touched  fire  and  water,  and  she  was  given 
the  keys  to  the  house.  The  next  day,  at  the  second  marriage  feast, 
^the  wife  brought  her  offerings  to  the  gods  of  her  husband's  family,  of 
which  she  was  now  a  member,  and  a  Roman  matron. 


294  E  O  M  E . 

Burial.* — When  a  Roman  died  it  was  the  duty  of  his  nearest  rela- 
tive to  receive  his  last  breath  with  a  kiss,  and  then  to  close  his  eyes 
and  mouth  (compare  yEneid,  iv.  684).  His  name  was  now  called 
several  times  by  all  present,  and  there  being  no  response  the  last  fare- 
well (vale)  was  said.  The  necessary  utensils  and  slaves  having  been 
hired  at  the  temple  where  the  death-registry  was  kept,  the  body  was 
laid  on  the  ground,  washed  in  hot  water,  anointed  with  rich  perfumes, 
clad  in  its  best  garments,  placed  on  an  ivory  bedstead,  and  covered 
with  blankets  of  purple,  embroidered  with  gold.f  The  couch  was  deco- 
rated with  flowers  and  foliage,  but  upon  the  body  itself  were  placed 
only  the  crowns  of  honor  fairly  earned  during  its  lifetime  ;  these 
accompanied  it  into  the  tomb.  By  the  side  of  the  funereal  bed,  which 
stood  in  the  atrium  facing  the  door,  as  in  Greece,  was  placed  a  pan  of 
incense.  The  body  was  thus  exhibited  for  seven  days,  branches  of 
cypress  and  iir  fastened  in  front  of  the  house  announcing  a  mourning 
household  to  all  the  passers-by.  On  the  .eighth  morning,  while  the 
streets  were  alive  with  bustle,  the  funeral  took  place.  Behind  the 
hired  female  mourners,  who  sang  wailing  dirges,  walked  a  band  of 
actors,  who  recited  scraps  of  tragedy  applicable  to  the  deceased,  or 
acted  comic  scenes  in  which  were  sometimes  mimicked  his  personal 
peculiarities. :}:  In  front  of  the  bier  marched  those  who  personated  the 
prominent  ancestors  of  the  dead  person.  They  wore  waxen  masks 
(p.  303),  in  which  and  in  their  dress  were  reproduced  the  exact  features 
and  historic  garb  of  these  long-defunct  personages.  §  The  bier,  car- 
ried by  the  nearest  relatives,  or  by  slaves  freed  by  the  will  of  the 
deceased,  and  surrounded  by  the  family  friends  dressed  in  black  (or,  in 
imperial  times,  in  white),  was  thus  escorted  to  the  Forum.  Here  the 
mask-wearers  seated  themselves  about  it,  and  one  of  the  relatives 
mounted  the  rostrum  to  eulogize  the  deceased  and  his  ancestors.  After 
the  eulogy,  the  procession  reformed,  and  the  body  was  taken  to  the 

*  The  Romans,  like  the  Greeks,  attached  great  importance  to  the  interment  of 
their  dead,  as  they  believed  that  the  spirit  of  an  unburied  body  was  forced  to  wander 
for  a  hundred  years.  Hence  it  was  deemed  a  religious  duty  to  scatter  earth  over  any 
corpse  found  uncovered  by  the  wayside,  a  handful  of  dust  being  sufficient  to  appease 
the  infernal  gods.  If  the  body  of  a  friend  could  not  be  found,  as  in  shipwreck,  an 
empty  tomb  was  erected,  over  which  the  usual  rites  were  performed. 

+  We  are  supposing  the  case  of  a  rich  man.  The  body  of  a  poor  person  was,  after 
the  usual  ablutions,  carried  at  night  to  the  common  burial-ground  outside  the  Esqui- 
line  gate,  and  interred  without  ceremony. 

t  At  Vespasian's  obsequies  an  actor  ludicrously  satirized  his  parsimony.  "  How 
much  will  this  ceremony  cost?"  he  asked,  in  the  assumed  voice  of  the  deceased 
emperor.  A  large  sum  having  been  named  in  reply,  the  actor  extended  his  hand  and 
greedily  cried  out,  "  Give  me  the  money  and  throw  my  body  into  the  Tiber." 

§  Frequently,  the  masks  belonging  to  the  collateral  branches  of  the  family  were 
borrowed,  that  a  brilliant  show  might  be  made._  Parvenus,  who  belong  to  all  time, 
were  wont  to  parade  images  of  fictitious  ancestors. 


THE     MAJS'NEES     AND     CUSTOMS.  295 

spot  where  it  was  to  be  buried  or  burned,  both  forms  being  used 
as  in  Greece.  If  it  were  burned,  the  nearest  relative,  with  averted 
face,  lighted  the  pile.  After  the  burning,  the  hot  ashes  were  drenched 
with  wine,  and  the  friends  collected  the  bones  in  the  folds  of  their 
robes,  amid  acclamations  to  the  manes  of  the  departed.  The  remains, 
sprinkled  with  wine  and  milk,  were  then — with  sometimes  a  small 
glass  vial  filled  with  tears — placed  in  the  funeral  urn ;  a  last  farewell 
was  spoken,  the  lustrations  were  performed,  and  the  mourners 
separated.  When  the  body  was  not  burned,  it  was  buried  with  all  its 
ornaments  in  a  coffin,  usually  of  stone*  The  friends,  on  returning 
home  from  the  funeral,  were  sprinkled  with  water,  and  then  they 
stepped  over  fire,  as  a  purification.  The  house  also  was  ceremoniously 
purified.  An  offering  and  banquet  took  place  on  the  ninth  day  after 
burial,  in  accordance  with  Greek  custom. 

Dress. — The  toga,  worn  by  a  Roman  gentleman,  was  a  piece  of 
white  woolen  cloth  about  five  yards  long  and  three  and  a  half  wide, 
folded  lengthways,  so  that  one  edge  fell  below  the  other.  It  was  thrown 
over  the  left  shoulder,  brought  around  the  back  and  under  the  right 
arm,  then,  leaving  a  loose  fold  in  front,  thrown  again  over  the  left 
shoulder,  leaving  the  end  to  fall  behind.  Much  pains  was  taken  to 
drapB  it  gracefully,  according  to  the  exact  style  required  by  fashion. 
A  tunic,  with  or  without  sleeves,  and  in  cold  weather  a  vest,  or  one 
or  more  extra  tunics,  were  worn  under  the  toga.  Boys  under  seventeen 
years  of  age  wore  a  toga  with  a  purple  hem  ;  the  toga  of  a  senator  had 
a  broad  purple  stripe,  and  that  of  a  knight  had  two  narrow  stripes. 
The  use  of  the  toga  was  forbidden  to  slaves,  strangers,  and,  in  im- 
perial times,  to  banished  Romans. 

The  pmnula,  a  heavy,  sleeveless  cloak,  with  sometimes  a  hood 
attached,  and  the  lacerna,  a  thinner,  bright-colored  one  arranged  in 
folds,  were  worn  out  of  doors  over  the  toga.  The  paludamentum,  a 
rich,  red  cloak  draped  in  picturesque  folds,  was  permitted  only  to  the 
military  general-in-chief,  who,  in  imperial  times,  was  the  emperor 
himself.  The  sagum  was  a  short  military  cloak.  The  synthesis,  a  gay- 
colored  easy  robe,  was  worn  over  the  tunic  at  banquets,  and  by  the 
nobility  during  the  Saturnalia.  Poor  people  had  only  the  tunic,  and 
in  cold  weather  a  tight-fitting  wool  or  leather  cloak.  When  not  on  a 
journey  the  Roman,  like  the  Greek,  left  his  head  uncovered,  or  pro- 
tected it  with  his  toga.  Rank  decided  the  style  of  shoe  :  a  consul  used 
a  red  one,  a  senator  a  black  one  with  a  silver  crescent,  ordinary  folk 
a  plain  black,  slaves  and  poorest  people  wooden  clogs.  In  the  house, 
sandals  only  were  worn,  and  at  dinner  even  these  were  laid  aside. 

*  That  from  Assos  in  Lycia  was  said  to  consume  the  entire  body,  except  the  teeth, 
in  forty  days:  hence  it  was  called  sarcophagus  (flesh-eating),  a  name  which  came  to 
stand  for  any  coffin. 


296  ROME. 

A  Roman  matron  dressed  in  a  linen  under-tunic,  a  vest,  and  the 
stola,  a  long,  short-sleeved  garment,  girdled  at  the  waist  and  flounced 
or  hemmed  at  the  bottom.  Over  this,  when  she  went  out,  she  threw 
a  palla,  cut  and  draped  like  her  husband's  toga,  or  like  the  Greek 
himation.  Girls  and  foreign  women,  who  were  not  permitted  the  stola, 
wore  over  the  tunic  a  palla,  arranged  like  the  Doric  chiton  (p.  193). 
Women— who,  like  the  men,  went  hatless— protected  their  heads  with 
the  palla,  and  wore  veils,  nets,  and  various  light  head-coverings. 
This  led  to  elaborate  fashions  in  hair-dressing.  A  caustic  soap  im- 
ported from  Gaul  was  used  for  hair  dyeing,  and  wigs  were  not  uncom- 
mon. Bright  colors,  such  as  blue,  scarlet,  violet,  and  especially 
yellow — the  favorite  tint  for  bridal  veils— enlivened  the  feminine 
wardrobe.  Finger-rings  were  worn  in  profusion  by  both  sexes,  and 
a  Roman  lady  of  fashion  luxuriated  in  bracelets,  necklaces,  and  various 
ornaments  set  with  diamonds,  pearls,  emeralds,  and  other  jewels, 
whose  purchase  frequently  cost  her  husband  his  fortune. 


SCENES    IN    REAL    LIFE. 

Scene  I. — A  Day  in  Rome. — Let  us  imagine  ourselves  on  some 
bright,  clear  morning,  about  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  looking  down 
from  the  summit  of  the  Capitoline  hill  upon  the  "Mistress  of  the 
World."  As  we  face  the  rising  sun,  we  see  clustered  about  us  a  group 
of  hills  crowned  with  a  vast  assemblage  of  temples,  colonnades, 
palaces,  and  sacred  groves.  Densely  packed  in  the  valleys  between 
are  towering  tenements,*  shops  with  extending  booths,  and  here  and 
there  a  templed  forum,  amphitheatre,  or  circus.  In  the  valley  at  our 
feet,  between  the  Via  Sacra  and  the  Via  Nova — the  only  paved  roads 
in  the  whole  city  fit  for  the  transit  of  heavy  carriages — is  the  Forum 
Romanum,  so  near  us  that  we  can  watch  the  storks  that  stalk  along 
the  roof  of  the  Temple  of  Concord  f  This  Forum  is  the  great  civil  and 
legislative  heart  of  the  city.  Here  are  the  Regia  or  palace  of  the  chief 
pontiff,  with  its  two  adjoining  basilicas  ;  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  on 
whose  altar  burns  the  sacred  flame  ;  the  Senate  House,  fronted  by  the 
Rostra,  from  which  Roman  orators  address  assembled  multitudes  ; 
various  temples,  including  the  famous  one  of  Castor  and  Pollux  ;  and 

*  Ancient  authors  frequently  mention  the  extreme  height  of  Roman  houses,  which 
Augustus  finally  limited  to  seventy  feet.  Cicero  says  of  Rome  that  "  it  is  suspended 
in  the  air";  and  Aristides,  comparing  the  successive  stories  to  the  strata  of  the 
earth's  crust,  affirms  that  if  they  were  laid  out  on  one  level  they  "  would  cover  Italy 
from  sea  to  sea."  To  economize  lateral  space,  the  exterior  walls  were  forbidden  to 
exceed  a  foot  and  a  half  in  thickness. 

t  Storks  were  encouraged  to  build  in  the  roof  of  this  temple,  as  peculiar  social 
instincts  were  attributed  to  them.    (See  St^eeWs  Zoology^  p.  147.) 


THE     MAKNERS     AND     CUSTOMS. 


297 


Km 


B^tei^W:' 


^nr^ 


many  beautiful  marble  arches,  col- 
umns, and  statues.  At  our  right  is 
the  crowded  district  of  the  Vela- 
brum,  and  beyond  it,  between  the 
Palatine  and  Aventine  hills,  is  the 
Circus  Maxiraus,  from  which  the 
Appian  Way  sweeps  to  the  south- 
east, through  the  Porta  Capena  and 
under  the  great  Aqua  Crabra,  a  sol- 
idly-paved street,  many-days  jour- 
ney in  extent,  and  lined  for  miles 
beyond  the  city  walls  with  mag- 
nificent marble  tombs  shaded  by 
cypress  trees.  Among  the  temples  on 
the  Palatine  stands  the  illustrious 
one  sacred  to  Apollo,  along  whose 
porticoes  hang  the  trophies  of  all  na- 
tions, and  to  which  is  at- 
tached a  famous  library  C    • 


*dM 


ROME    IN   THE  TIME   OF   AUGUSTUS   C^SAR. 


i 


298  EOME. 

of  Greek  and  Roman  books  ;  near  it  is  the  Roma  Quadrata,  a  square 
mass  of  masonry  believed  to  be  mysteriously  connected  with  the  for- 
tunes of  the  city,  and  beneath  which  certain  precious  amulets  are  de- 
posited. Interspersed  among  these  public  buildings  on  the  Palatine  are 
many  isolated  mansions  surrounded  by  beautiful  gardens  fragrant  with 
the  odors  of  roses  and  violets,  in  which  the  Romans  especially  delight. 
There  is  no  arrangement  of  streets  upon  the  hills  ;  that  is  a  system 
confined  to  the  crowded  Suburra,  which  adjoins  the  Roman  Forum 
at  our  front  and  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  Quirinal,  Viminal,  and  Es- 
quiline  hills.  This  district,  which  was  once  a  swampy  jungle  and 
afterward  a  fashionable  place  for  residences  (Julius  Caesar  was  born 
in  the  Suburra),  is  now  the  crowded  abode  of  artificers  of  all  kinds, 
and  is  the  most  profligate  as  well  as  most  densely  populated  part  of 
Rome. 

Turning  about  and  facing  the  west,  we  see,  toward  the  north,  the 
Campus  Martins,  devoted  from  the  earliest  period  to  military  exercises 
and  the  sports  of  running,  leaping,  and  bathing.  On  this  side  of  the 
open  meadows  stand  some  of  the  principal  temples,  the  great  Flaminian 
Circus,  and  the  theatres  of  Pompeius  and  Marcellus  with  their  groves, 
porticoes,  and  halls.  Precisely  in  the  center  of  the  plain  rises  the 
Pantheon  of  Agrippa,  and,  further  on,  we  see  the  Amphitheatre  of 
Taurus,*  and  the  Mausoleum  of  Augustus.  At  our  front,  beyond  the 
curving,  southward-flowing  Tiber,  is  a  succession  of  terraces,  upon 
whose  heights  are  many  handsome  residences.  This  quarter,  the 
Janiculum,  is  noted  for  its  salubrity,  and  here  are  the  Gardens  of 
Caesar,  and  the  Naumachia  (a  basin  for  exhibiting  naval  engagements) 
of  Augustus,  fed  by  a  special  aqueduct,  and  surrounded  by  walks  and 
groves.  Glancing  down  the  river  we  see  the  great  wharf  called  the 
Emporium,  with  its  immense  store-houses,  in  which  grain,  spices, 
candles,  paper,  and  other  commodities  are  stored  ;  and,  just  beyond  it, 
the  Marmorata,  a  special  dock  for  landing  building-stone  and  foreign 
marbles.  It  is  yet  early  morning,  and  the  streets  of  Rome  are  mainly 
filled  with  clients  and  their  slaves  hurrying  to  the  atria  (p.  303)  of  their 
wealthy  patrons  to  receive  the  customary  morning  dole.f     Here  and 

*  The  whole  of  this  northern  district  comprehends  the  chief  part  of  modem 
Rome,  and  is  now  thronged  with  houses. 

t  In  early  times  the  clients  were  invited  to  feast  with  their  patron  in  the  atrium 
of  his  mansion,  but  in  later  days  it  became  customary,  instead,  for  stewards  to  dis- 
tribute small  sums  of  money  or  an  allowance  of  food,  which  the  slaves  of  the  clients 
carried  away  in  baskets  or  in  small  portable  ovens,  which  kept  the  cooked  meats  hot, 
"  Wedged  in  thick  ranks  before  the  donor's  gates, 
A  phalanx  firm  of  chairs  and  litters  waits. 
Once,  plain  and  open  was  the  feast, 
'  •        And  every  client  was  a  bidden  guest ; 
Now,  at  the  gate  a  paltry  largess  lies, 
And  eager  hands  and  tongues  dispute  the  prize."— Jw«?en(rf. 


THE 


PLAN    OF    ANCIENT    ROME. 

SHOWING   THE   DIVISION    INTO 

2CI^v^       REO-IOISrS       OE       ^^XJO-XJSTXJS 

AND  THE   POSITION   OF  THE  PRINCIPAL   BUILDINGS. 


I.  Porta  Capena. 

L   P.Ttii  Ciipena. 

2.  Valley  of  Egeiia. 

3.  Tomb  of  Scipio. 

n.  Cjelimontium. 

4.  Temple. ifDivusOandius 

5.  Arch  of  Constantine. 
ni.   ISI8  ET  SERAFIS. 

6.  Colisseiim. 

7.  Baths  of  Titus. 

8.  Baths  of  Trajan. 

IV.  Via  Sacra. 

9.  FiTiiMi  of  Vespasian. 

10.  Basilica  of  Consiantine. 

V.  EsquilinacumVimi- 

NALI. 

11.  Temple  of  Jimo. 

VI.  AiiTA  Semita. 

12.  Biiths  of  Diocletian. 

13.  Temple  of  Flora.'' 

14.  Temple  of  Quirinns. 
15.  Baths  of  Constantlne. 

Vn,  Via  Lata. 

16.  Arch  of  Aiirelins. 

17.  Arch  of  Claudius. 


18.  Amphitheatre  of  Taurus. 

19.  Column  of  Antoninus. 

20.  Camp  of  Agrippa. 

21.  Temple   of  Isis  and  Se- 

rapis. 

VIII.  Forum  Romaxtjm. 

22.  Capitoline  Hill. 

23.  Temple  of  Jupiter  Tonans 

24.  Arx. 

25.  Gulden  Milestone. 

26.  Roman  Forum. 

27.  Temple  of  Vesta. 

28.  Via  Sacra. 

29.  Lupercal. 

30.  Tarpei:.n  Rock. 

31.  Arch  of  Severus. 

32.  Curia  (Senate  House.) 

33.  Foriim  of  Augustus. 

34.  Basilica  Ulpia. 

35.  Temple  of  Jnuus. 

IX.  Circus  FLAMiNrus. 

36.  Theatre  of  Mnrcellua. 

37.  Port,    of    Octavius    and 

Philippa. 

38.  Circus  Flaminius. 

39.  Temple  of  Apollo. 


40.  Temple  of  Bellons. 

41.  Septa  Julia. 

42.  Diribitorium. 

43.  Bar  hs  of  Agrippa.        '' 

44.  Port,  of  Pompey. 

45.  Theatre  of  Pompej. 

46.  Piintlieon, 

47.  Balhs  of  Nero. 

48.  Race  C"urse. 

49.  Mausoleum  of  AugustoSs 

X.  Palatium. 

50.  Palace  of  Nero. 
61.  Palace  of  Augustus. 

XL  Circus  Maximus. 

52.  Velabrum. 

63.  Forum  Olitorium. 

64.  Forum  Bonvium, 

65.  Circus  Maximui>. 

Xn.  Piscina  Publica. 

56.  Haihs  of  Antoninus. 
Xm.   AVENTINUS. 

57.  Balnea  Since. 
68    Eniporium. 

XrV.  Trans  Tiberim. 

69.  Temple  of  .^sculapitu. 


300  KOME. 

there  a  teacher  hastens  to  his  school,  and  in  the  Suburra  the  workers 
in  metal  and  in  leather,  the  clothiers  and  perfume  sellers,  the  book- 
dealers,  the  general  retailers,  and  the  jobbers  of  all  sorts,  are  already 
beginning  their  daily  routine.  We  miss  the  carts  laden  with  mer- 
chandise which  so  obstruct  our  modern  city  streets ;  they  are  forbidden 
by  law  to  appear  within  the  walls  during  ten  hours  between  sunrise 
and  sunset.  But,  as  the  city  wakes  to  life,  long  trains  of  builders' 
wagons,  weighted  with  huge  blocks  of  stone  or  logs  of  timber,  bar 
the  road,  and  mules,  with  country  produce  piled  in  baskets  suspended 
on  either  side,  urge  their  way  along  the  constantly  increasing  crowd. 
Here  is  a  mule  with  a  dead  boar  thrown  across  its  back,  the  proud  hun- 
ter stalking  in  front,  with  a  strong  force  of  retainers  to  carry  his  spears 
and  nets.  There  comes  a  load  drawn  by  oxen,  upon  whose  horns  a 
wisp  of  hay  is  tied  ;  it  is  a  sign  that  they  are  vicious,  and  passers-by 
must  be  on  guard.  Now  a  passage  is  cleared  for  some  dignified  patri- 
cian, who,  wrapped  in  his  toga,  reclining  in  his  luxurious  litter,  and 
borne  on  the  broad  shoulders  of  six  stalwart  slaves,  makes  his  way  to 
the  Forum  attended  by  a  train  of  clients  and  retainers.  In  his  rear, 
stepping  from  stone  to  stone*  across  the  slippery  street  wet  by  the 
recent  rains,  we  spy  some  popular  personage  on  foot,  whose  advance 
is  constantly  retarded  by  his  demonstrative  acquaintances,  who  throng 
about  him,  seize  his  hand,  and  cover  his  lips  with  kisses,  f 

The  open  cook-shops  swarm  with  slaves  who  hover  over  steaming 
kettles,  preparing  breakfast  for  their  wonted  customers  ;  and  the  tables 
of  the  vintners,  reaching  far  out  upon,  the  wayside,  are  covered  with 
bottles,  protected  from  passing  pilferers  by  chains.  The  restaurants 
are  hung  with  festoons  of  greens  and  flowers  ;  the  image  of  a  goat,:j: 
carved  on  a  wooden  tablet,  betokens  a  milk  depot ;  five  hams,  ranged 

*  In  Pompeii,  the  sidewalks  are  elevated  a  foot  or  more  above  the  street  level, 
and  protected  by  curbstones.  Remains  of  the  stucco  or  the  coarse  brickwork  mosaic 
which  covered  them  are  still  seen.  In  many  places  the  streets  are  so  narrow  that 
they  may  be  crossed  at  one  stride  ;  where  they  are  wider,  a  raised  stepping-stone, 
and  sometimes  two  or  three,  have  been  placed  in  the  center  of  the  crossing.  Though 
these  stones  were  in  the  middle  of  the  carriage-way,  the  wheels  of  the  Mga,  or  two- 
horsed  chariot,  could  roll  in  the  spaces  between,  while  the  loosely  harnessed  horses 
might  step  over  them  or  pass  by  the  side.  Among  the  suggestive  objects  in  the 
exhumed  city  are  the  hollows  worn  in  these  stepping-stones  by  feet  which  were  for- 
ever stilled  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  ago. 

t  "  At  every  meeting  in  the  street  a  person  was  exposed  to  a  number  of  kisses, 
not  only  from  near  acquaintance,  but  from  every  one  who  desired  to  show  his  attach- 
ment, among  whom  there  were  often  mouths  not  so  clean  as  they  might  be.  Tiberius, 
who  wished  himself  not  to  be  humbled  by  this  custom,  issued  an  edict  against  it, 
but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  done  much  good.  In  winter  only  it  was  considered 
improper  to  annoy  another  with  one's  cold  lips." — Becker's  Gallus. 

X  A  goat  driven  about  from  door  to  door,  to  be  milked  for  customers,  is  a  common 
sight  in  Rome  to-day,  where  children  come  out  with  gill  or  half-pint  cups  to  get  their 
morning  ration. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  301 

in  a  row,  proclaim  a  provision  store  ;  and  a  mill,  driven  by  a  mule, 
advertises  a  miller's  and  baker's  shop,  both  in  one.  About  the  street 
corners  are  groups  of  loungers  collected  for  their  morning  gossip, 
while  gymnasts  and  gladiators,  clowns,  conjurors,  snake  charmers,  and 
a  crowd  of  strolling  swine — who  roam  at  will  about  the  imperial  city — 
help  to  obstruct  the  narrow,  tortuous  highways.  The  professional 
street-beggars  are  out  in  force  ;  squatting  upon  little  squares  of  mat- 
ting, they  piteously  implore  a  dole,  or,  feigning  epilepsy,  fall  at  the 
feet  of  some  rich  passer-by.  Strangers,  too,  are  here,  men  of  foreign 
costume  and  bearing,  come  from  afar  to  see  the  wonders  of  the  world - 
conquering  city,  and,  as  they  gaze  distractedly  about,  dazed  by  the  din 
of  rumbling  wagons,  shouting  drivers,  shrill-voiced  hucksters,  braying 
asses,  and  surging  multitudes,  suddenly  there  comes  a  lull.  The 
slaves,  whose  task  it  is  to  watch  the  sun-dials  and  report  the  expiration 
of  each  hour,  have  announced  that  the  sun  has  passed  the  midday  line 
upon  the  pavement.  Soon  all  tumult  ceases,  and  for  one  hour  the  city 
is  wrapped  in  silence. 

The  luxurious  siesta  over,  Rome  awakes  to  new  enjoyment.  Now 
come  the  pleasures  and  excitement  of  the  circus  and  the  theatre,  or 
the  sports  upon  the  Campus  Martins,  whither  the  young  fashionables 
repair  in  crowds,  to  swim,  run,  ride,  or  throw  the  javelin,  watched 
by  an  admiring  assembly  of  seniors  and  women  who,  clustered  in 
porticoes,  are  sheltered  from  the  burning  sun.  Then  follows  the  luxury 
of  the  warm  and  vapor  baths,  with  perfuming  and  anointing,  and  every 
refinement  of  physical  refreshment  as  a  preparation  for  the  coming 
coena  or  dinner  (p.  306).  But  wherever  one  may  seek  enjoyment  for 
the  early  evening,  it  is  well  to  be  housed  before  night  comes  on,  for 
the  streets  of  Rome  swarm  with  nocturnal  highwaymen,  marauders, 
and  high-blooded  rowdies,  who  set  the  police  at  open  defiance,  and 
keep  whole  districts  in  terror.  There  are  other  dangers,  too,  for  night 
is  the  time  chosen  by  the  careful  housewife  to  dump  the  slops  and 
debris  from  her  upper  windows  into  the  open  drain  of  the  street  below. 
Fires,  also,  are  frequent,  and,  though  the  night-watch  is  provided  with 
hatchets  and  buckets  to  resist  its  progress,  a  conflagration  once  started 
in  the  crowded  Suburra  or  Velabrum  spreads  with  fearful  rapidity, 
and  will  soon  render  hundreds  of  families  homeless.*  Meanwhile, 
the  carts,  shut  out  by  law  during  the  daytime,  crowd  and  jostle  one 
another  in  the  eagerness  of  their  noisy  drivers  to  finish  their  duties 

*  The  tenements  of  the  lower  classes  in  Rome  were  so  crowded  that  often  whole 
families  were  huddled  together  in  one  small  room.  The  different  stories  were  reached 
by  stairways  placed  on  the  outside  of  the  buildings. — There  were  no  fire-insurance 
companies,  but  the  sufferers  were  munificently  recompensed  by  generous  citizens, 
their  lotis  being  not  only  made  good  in  money,  but  followed  by  presents  of  books, 
pictures,  statues,  and  choice  mosaics,  from  their  zealous  friends.  Martial  insinuates 
that  on  this  account  parties  were  sometimes  tempted  to  fire  their  own  premises. 


302  EOME. 

and  be  at  liberty  for  the  night,  while,  here  and  there,  groups  of  smok- 
ing flambeaux  mark  the  well-armed  trains  of  the  patricians  on  their 
return  from  evening  banquets.  As  the  night  advances,  the  sights  and 
sounds  gradually  fade  and  die  away,  till  in  the  first  hours  of  the  new 
day  the  glimmering  lantern  of  the  last  wandering  pedestrian  has  dis- 
appeared, and  the  great  city  lies  under  the  stars  asleep. 

Scene  II. — A  Roman  Home* — We  will  not  visit  one  of  the  tall 
lodging-houses  which  crowd  the  Suburra,  though  in  passing  we  may 
glance  at  the  plain,  bare,  outside  wall,  with  its  few  small  windows  f 
placed  in  the  upper  stories  and  graced  with  pots  of  flowers  ;  and  at 
the  outside  stairs  biy  which  the  inmates  mount  to  those  dizzy  heights, 
and  under  which  the  midnight  robber  and  assassin  often  lurk.  Some- 
times we  see  a  gabled  front  or  end  with  a  sloping  roof,  or  feel  the  shade 
of  projecting  balconies  which  stretch  far  over  the  narrow  street.  On 
many  a  flat  roof,  paved  with  stucco,  stone,  or  metal,  and  covered  with 
earth,  grow  fragrant  shrubs  and  flowers.  Coming  into  more  aristo- 
cratic neighborhoods,  we  yet  see  little  domestic  architecture  to  attract 
us.  It  is  only  when  a  spacious  vestibule,  adorned  with  statues  and 
mosaic  pillars,  lies  open  to  the  street  that  we 
have  any  intimation  of  the  luxury  within  a 
Roman  dwelling.  If,  entering  such  a  vestibule, 
we  rap  with  the  bronze  knocker,  the  unfast- 
ened folding-doors  are  pushed  aside  by  the  wait- 
ing janitor  (who  first  peeps  at  us  through  the 
large  open  spaces  in  the  door-posts),:}:  and  we  find 
ourselves  in  the  little  ostium  or  entrance  hall 
leading  to  the  atrium.  Here  we  are  greeted, 
not  only  by  the  "  sahe  "  (welcome)  on  the  mosaic 
pavement,  but  by  the  same  cheerful  word  .  chat- 
A  ROMAN  LAMP  tered  by  a  trained   parrot  hanging   above   the 

door.     We  linger  to  notice  the  curiously  carved 
door-posts,  inlaid  with  tortoise-shell,  and  the  door  itself,  which,  instead 


*  No  traces  of  ancient  private  dwellings  exist  in  Kome,  except  in  tlie  ruins  of  the 
Palace  of  the  Cfcsars  on  the  Palatine,  where  the  so-called  house  of  Livia,  wife  of 
Augustus,  remains  tolerably  perfect.  It  is  similar  in  dimensions  and  arrangement  to 
the  best  Pompeian  dwellings,  though  far  superiornn  paintings  and  decorations.  The 
"  House  of  Pansa  "  in  Pompeii,  the  plan  of  which  is  described  in  the  text,  is  consid- 
ered a  good  representative  example  of  a  wealthy  Roman's  home. 

t  Panes  of  glass  have  been  found  in  Pompeii,  though  it  was  more  usual  to  close 
the  window-holes  with  movable  wooden  shutters,  clay  tablets,  talc,  or  nets. 

X  In  ancient  times,  the  janitor,  accompanied  by  a  dog,  was  confined  to  his  proper 
station  by  a  chain.  As  it  was  not  customary  to  keep  the  door  locked,  such  a  protec- 
tion was  necessary.  In  the  "  House  of  the  Tragic  Poet,"  exhumed  at  Pompeii,  a 
fierce  black  and  white  dog  is  depicted  in  the  mosaic  pavement,  and  underneath  it  is 
the  inscription,  "  Cave  Canbm  "  (Beware  of  the  Dog). 


THE     MAljq^NERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  303 

of  hinges,  is  provided  with  wedge-shaped  pins,  fitting  into  sockets  or 
rings,  and  then  we  pass  into  the  atrium,  the  room  about  which  cluster 
the  most  sacred  memories  of  Roman  domestic  life.  Here  in  ancient 
times  all  the  simple  meals  were  taken  beside  the  hearth  on  which  they 
were  prepared,  and  by  which  the  sacrifices  were  daily  offered  up  to  the 
beloved  Lares  and  Penates/-'  Here  was  welcomed  the  master's  chosen 
bride,  and  here,  a  happy  matron ,f  she  afterward  sat  enthroned  in  the 
midst  of  her  industrious  maids,  spinning  and  weaving  the  household 
garments.  From  their  niches  upon  these  walls,  by  the  side  of  glistening 
weapons  captured  in  many  a  bloody  contest,  the  waxen  masks  of  honored 
ancestors  have  looked  down  for  generations,  watching  the  bodies  of 
the  family  descendants  as,  one  by  one,  they  have  lain  in  state  upon  the 
funeral  bier. — But  increase  of  luxury  has  banished  the  ste wing-pans, 
the  busy  looms,  and  the  hospitable  table  to  other  apartments  in  the 
growing  house.  The  Lares  and  Penates  have  left  their  primitive  little 
closets  by  the  atrium  cooking-hearth  for  a  larger  and  separate  sacra- 
rium,  and  spacious  kitchens  now  send  forth  savory  odors  from  turbot, 
pheasant,  wild-boar,  and  sausages,  to  be  served  up  in  summer  or  winter 
tricliniums  by  a  host  of  well-trained  slaves.^  The  household  dead  are 
still  laid  here,  but  the  waxen  masks  of  olden  times  are  gradually  giv- 
ing place  to  brazen  shield-shaped  plates  on  which  are  dimly -imaged 


*  At  every  meal,  the  first  act  was  to  cast  a  portion  of  each  article  of  food  into  the 
fire  that  burned  upon  the  hearth,  in  honor  of  the  household  gods. 

+  The  Roman  matron,  unlike  the  Greek,  enjoyed  great  freedom  of  action,  both 
within  and  without  her  house,  and  was  always  treated  with  attention  and  respect. 

t  The  Romans  were  fond  of  amazing  their  guests  with  costly  dainties,  such  as 
nightingales,  peacocks,  and  the  tongues  and  brains  of  flamingoes.  Caligula  dissolved 
pearls  in  powerful  acids,  in  imitation  of  Cleopatra,  and  spent  $400,000  on  a  single 
repast.  A  dramatic  friend  of  Cicero  paid  over  $4,000  for  a  dish  of  singing  birds ;  and 
one  famous  epicure,  after  having  exhausted  the  sum  of  four  million  dollars  in  his 
good  living,  poisoned  himself  because  he  had  not  quite  half  a  million  left !  Fish  was 
a  favorite  food,  and  the  mansions  of  the  rich  were  fitted  up  with  fish-ponds  (piscince) 
for  the  culture  of  rare  varieties,  which  were  sometimes  caught  and  cooked  on  silver 
gridirons  before  invited  guests,  who  enjoyed  the  changing  colors  of  the  slowly  dying 
fish,  and  the  tempting  odor  of  the  coming  treat.  Turbots,  mackerels,  eels  and  oys- 
ters were  popular  delicacies,  and  a  fine  mullet  brought  sometimes  as  much  as  $240. 
In  game,  the  fatted  hare  and  the  wild  boar,  served  whole,  were  ranked  first.  Pork, 
as  in  Greece,  was  the  favorite  meat,  beef  and  mutton  being  regarded  with  little  favor. 
Great  display  was  made  in  serving,  and  Juvenal  ridicules  the  airs  of  the  professional 
carver  of  his  time,  who,  he  says — 

"  Skips  like  a  harlequin  from  place  to  place. 
And  waves  his  knife  with  pantomimic  grace — 
For  different  gestures  by  our  curious  men 
Are  used  for  different  dishes,  hare  and  hen." 

In  vegetables  the  Romans  had  lettuce,  cabbage,  turnips,  and  asparagus.  Mush- 
rooms were  highly  prized.  The  poorer  classes  lived  on  cheap  fish,  boiled  chick-peas, 
beans,  lentils,  barley  bread,  and  puis  or  grueL 


304 


ROME. 


features,  or  to  bronze  and  marble  busts*  The  little  aperture  in  tlie 
center  of  the  ceiling,  which  served  the  double  purpose  of  escape  for 
smoke  and  the  admission  of  sunlight,  has  been  enlarged,  and  is  sup- 
ported by  costly  marble  pillars,  alternating  with  statues  ;  directly  un- 
derneath it,  the  open  cistern  reflects  each  passing  cloud  and  mirrors 
the  now-unused  altar,  which,  for  tradition's  sake,  is  still  left  standing 
by  its  side.  When  the  rain,  wind,  or  heat  becomes  severe,  a  tapestry 
curtain,  hung  horizontally,  is  drawn  over  the  aperture,  and  some- 
times a  pretty  fountain,  surrounded  by  flowering  plants,  embellishes 
the  pool  of  water.  Tapestries,  sliding  by  rings  on  bars,  conceal  or 
open  to  view  the  apartments  which  adjoin  the  atrium.  As  we  stand 
at  the  entrance-door  of  this   spacious  room,f  with  the  curtains  all 


THE  HOUSE  OF  PANSA.      (viEW   FROM  THE   ENTRANCE-DOOR  OF   THE   ATRIUM.) 

drawn  aside,  we  look  down  a  long  and  beautiful  vista ;  past  the 
central  fountain  and  altar  ;  through  the  open  tablinum,  paved  with 
marbles  and  devoted  to  the  master's  use  ;  into  the  peristyle,  a  hand- 
some open  court  surrounded  by  pillared  arcades,  paved  with  mosaics 
and  beautified,  like  the  atrium,  with  central  fountain  and  flowers ; 
and  still  on,  through  the  large  banqueting  hall,  or  family  state-room 
(cBCUs),  beyond  the  transverse  corridor,  and  into  the  garden  which 
stretches  across  the  rear  of  the  mansion.  If  we  stop  to  glance  into  the 
library  which  adjoins  the  tablinum,  we  shall  find  its  walls  lined  with 


*  Pliny  speaks  of  the  craving  for  portrait-statues,  which  induced  obscure  persons, 
suddenly  grown  rich,  to  buy  a  fictitious  ancestry,  there  being  ready  antiquarians 
then,  as  now,  who  made  it  a  business  to  furnish  satisfactory  pedigrees. 

t  The  atrium  in  the  House  of  Pansa  was  nearly  fifty  feet  long  and  over  thirty 
wide.  As  this  was  only  a  moderate-sized  house  in  a  provincial  town,  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  city  houses  of  the  rich  were  much  more  spacious. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  305 

cupboards  stored  with  parchment  rolls  and  adorned  with  busts  and 
pictures  of  illustrious  men,  crowned  by  the  presiding  statues  of 
Minerva  and  the  Muses.  In  general  furniture,  we  notice  beautiful 
tripod-stands  holding  graceful  vases,  chairs  after  Greek  patterns,  and 
lecti  *  on  which  to  recline  when  reading  or  writing.  Occasionally 
there  is  a  small  wall-mirror,  made  of  polished  metal,  and  the  walls 
themselves  are  brilliantly  painted  in  panels,  bearing  graceful  floating 
figures  and  scenes  of  mythological  design.  The  floors  are  paved 
with  bricks,  marbles,  or  mosaics,  and  the  rooms  are  warmed  or  cooled 
by  pipes  through  which  flows  hot  or  cold  water.  In  extreme  weather 
there  are  portable  stoves.  There  is  a  profusion  of  quaintly-shaped 
bronze  and  even  golden  lamps,  whose  simple  oil-fed  wicks  give  forth 
at  night  a  feeble  glimmer.f  As  we  pass  through  the  fauces  into  the 
peristyle  a  serpent  slowly  uncoils  itself  from  its  nest  in  one  of  the 
alae,  which  has  been  made  the  household  sanctuary,:}:  and  glides  toward 
the  triclinium  in  search  of  a  crumb  from  the  midday  meal. 

The  large  triclinium,  at  the  right  of  the  peristyle,  is  furnished  with 
elegantly  inlaid  sofas,  which  form  three  sides  of  a  square  about 
a  costly  cedar  or  citrus- wood  table.  §      At  banquets  the  sofas   are 

*  A  lectus  was  neither  bed  nor  sofa,  but  a  simple  frame  with  a  low  ledge  at  one 
end,  and  strung  with  girth  on  which  a  mattress  and  coverings  were  laid.  Lecti  were 
made  of  brass,  or  of  cedar  inlaid  with  ivory,  tortoise-shell  and  precious  metals,  and 
were  provided  with  ivory,  gold,  or  silver  feet.  Writing-desks  with  stools  were  un- 
known ;  the  Roman  reclined  on  the  lectus  when  he  wrote,  resting  his  tablet  upon 
his  knee. 

+  The  Romans  were  in  the  habit  of  making  New- Year's  gifts,  such  as  dried  figs, 
dates,  and  honey-comb  as  emblems  of  sweetness,  or  a  little  piece  of  money  as  a  hope 
for  good  luck.  But  the  favorite  gift  was  a  lamp,  and  great  genius  was  displayed  in 
the  variety  of  elegant  designs  which  were  invented  in  search  of  the  novel  and  unique. 

X  Serpents  were  the  emblems  of  the  Lares,  and  were  not  only  figured  upon  the 
altars,  but,  as  a  presence  of  good  omen,  a  particular  kind  was  kept  as  pets  in  the 
houses,  where  they  nestled  about  the  altars  and  came  out  like  dogs  or  cats  to  be 
noticed  by  visitors,  and  to  beg  for  something  to  eat.  These  sacred  reptiles,  which 
were  of  considerable  size  but  harmless  except  to  rats  and  mice,  bore  such  a  charmed 
life  that  their  numbers  became  an  intolerable  nuisance.  Pliny  intimates  that  many 
of  the  fires  in  Rome  were  kindled  purposely  to  destroy  their  eggs. 

§  The  citrus-wood  tables,  so  prized  among  the  Romans,  cost  from  $40,000  to 
$50,000  apiece.  Seneca  is  said  to  have  owned  five  hundred  citrus-wood  tables. 
Vases  of  murrha— a  substance  identified  by  modern  scientists  with  glass,  Chinese 
porcelain,  agate,  and  fluor-spar— were  fashionable,  and  fabulous  sums  were  paid 
for  them.  An  ex-consul  under  Nero  had  a  murrha  wine-ladle  which  cost  him 
$300,000,  and  which  on  his  death-bed  he  deliberately  da?hed  to  pieces,  to  prevent 
its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  grasping  tyrant.  Bronze  and  marble  statues  were 
abundant  in  the  houses  and  gardens  of  the  rich,  and  cost  from  $150  for  the  work 
of  an  ordinary  sculptor  to  $30,000  for  a  genuine  Phidias,  Scopas,  or  Praxiteles.  To 
gratify  such  expensive  tastes,  large  fortunes  were  necessary,  and  the  Romans— in 
early  times  averse  to  anything  but  arms  and  agriculture— developed  shrewd,  sharp 
business  qualities.  They  roamed  over  foreign  countries  in  search  of  speculations, 
and  turned  out  swarms  of  bankers  and  merchants,  who  amassed  enormous  sums  to 


306 


ROME. 


decked  with  white  hangings  embroidered  with  gold,  and  the  soft  wool- 
stufEed  pillows  upon  which  the  guests  recline  are  covered  with  gor- 
geous purple.  Here,  after  his  daily  warm  and  vapor  bath,  the  per- 
fumed and  enervated  Roman  gathers  a  few  friends— in  number  not 
more  than  the  Muaes  nor  less  than  the  Graces— for  the  evening  supper 
{mna).  The  courses  follow  one  another  as  at  a  Grecian  banquet. 
Slaves  *  relieve  the  master  and  his  guests  from  the  most  trifling  effort, 


PLAN  ui-  The  house  of  pansa. 


(v)  The  Vestibulum^  ox  hull-  (i)  The  Osiiuvt;  (2)  The  Atrium,  off  which  are  six 
cubicula  or  sleeping-rooms;  (5)  The  Tmpluvium,  before  which  stands  the 
pedestal  or  altar,  of  the  household  gods  ;  (4)  The  Tablinum,  or  chief  room; 
(5)  The  Pinacotheca,  or  library  and  picture  gallery;  (6)  The  Fauces,  or  corri- 
dor; (7)  The  Peristylium.  or  court,  with  (8)  its  central  fountain;  (9)  The 
Mcus,  or  state-room ;  (10)  The  Triclinium  ;  (11)  The  kitchen  ;  (12)  The 
transverse  corridor,  with  garden  beyond  ;  and  (13)  The  Lararium,  a  recepta- 
cle for  the  more  favorite  gods,  and  lor  statues  of  illustrious  personages. 

carving-  each  person's  food  or  breaking  it  into  fragments  which  he 
can  raise  to  his  mouth  with  his  fingers — forks  being  unknown — and 
pouring  water  on  his  hands  at  every  remove.  The  strictest  etiquette 
])revails  ;  long-time  usages  and  traditions  are  followed ;  libations  are 
offered  to  the  protecting  gods  ;  spirited  conversation,  which  is 
undignified  and  Greekish,  is  banished  ;  and  only  solemn  or  caustic 
aphorisms  on  life  and  manners  are  heard.  "People  at  supper," 
says  Varro,  "should  be  neither  mute  nor  loquacious:  eloquence  is 
for  the  forum ;  silence  for  the  bed-chamber."  On  high  days,  rules 
are  banished  ;  the  host  becomes  the  "  Father  of  the  supper,"  convivial 
excesses  grow  coarse  and  absurd,  and  all  the  follies  and  vices  of  the 
Greek  symposium  are  exaggerated. 

be  spent  on  fashionable  whims.  (See  Business  Life  in  Ancient  Borne.  Harper's 
Half-hour  Series.) 

*  There  were  slaves  for  every  species  of  service  in  a  Roman  household,  and  their 
number  and  versatility  of  handicraft  remind  one  of  the  retinue  of  an  Egyptian  lord. 
Even  the  defective  memory  or  limited  talent  of  an  indolent  or  over-taxed  Roman 
was  supplemented  by  a  slave  at  his  side  whose  business  it  was  to  recall  forgotten 
incidents  and  duties,  to  tell  him  the  names  of  the  persons  he  met,  or  to  suggest  ap- 
propriate literary  allusions  in  his  conversation. 


THE     MANNERS     AND     CUSTOMS.  307 

Scene  III. — A  Triumphal  Procession. — Rome  is  in  her  holiday 
attire.  Streets  and  squares  are  festively  adorned,  and  incense  burns 
on  the  altars  of  the  open  temples.  From  steps  and  stands,  improvised 
along  the  streets  for  the  eager  crowd,  grow  loud  and  louder  shouts  of 
"  lo  triumphe,"  for  the  procession  has  started  from  the  triumphal  gate 
on  its  way  through  the  city  up  to  the  Capitol.  First  come  the  lictors, 
opening  a  passage  for  the  senate,  the  city  magistrates,  and  important 
citizens.  Pipers  and  flute-players  follow.  Then  appear  the  spoils  and 
booty  ;  art-treasures,  gold  and  silver  coins,  valuable  plate,  products  of 
the  conquered  soil,  armor,  standards,  models  of  captured  cities  and 
ships,  pictures  of  battles,  tablets  inscribed  with  the  victor's  deeds,  and 
statues  personifying  the  towns  and  rivers  of  the  newly-subjected 
land, — all  carried  by  crowned  soldiers  on  the  points  of  long  lances, 
or  on  portable  stands.  Chained  kings,  princes,  aud  nobles,  doomed  to 
the  Mamertine  prison,  walk  sulleffly  behind  their  lost  treasures.  In 
their  wake  are  the  sacrificial  oxen  with  gilt  horns,  accompanied  by 
priests  ;  and  then,  preceded  by  singers,  musicians,  and  jesters,  the  cen- 
tral object  of  all  this  grand  parade — the  victorious  general.*  Clad 
in  a  tunic  borrowed  from  the  statue  of  the  Capitoline  Jupiter,  with  the 
eagle-topped  ivory  scepter  in  his  hand  and  the  triumphal  crown  held 
above  his  head,  the  conqueror  proudly  stands  in  his  four-horse  chariot, 
followed  by  his  equally  proud,  victorious  army.  Through  the  Flami- 
nian  Circus,  along  the  crowded  Velabrum  and  the  Circus  Maximus, 
by  the  Via  Sacra  and  the  Forum,  surges  the  vast  procession  up  to  the 
majestic  Capitol.  Here  the  triumphator  lays  his  golden  crown  in  the 
lap  of  Jupiter  and  makes  the  imposing  sacrifice.  A  feast  of  unusual 
sumptuousness  ends  the  eventful  day. 

Scene  IV. — The  last  of  a  Roman  Emperor. — **It  is  the  Roman 
habit  to  consecrate  the  emperors  who  leave  heirs.  The  mortal  re- 
mains are  buried,  according  to  custom,  in  a  splendid  manner  ;  but  the 
wax  image  of  the  emperor  is  placed  on  an  ivory  bed,  covered  with  gold- 
embroidered  carpets,  in  front  of  the  palace.  The  expression  of  the 
face  is  that  of  one  dangerously  ill.  To  the  left  side  of  the  bed  stand, 
during  a  greater  part  of  the  day,  the  members  of  the  senate  ;  to  the 
right,  the  ladies  entitled  by  birth  or  marriage  to  appear  at  court,  in  the 
usual  simple  white  mourning-dresses  without  gold  ornaments  or  neck- 
laces. This  ceremony  lasts  seven  days,  during  which  time  the  imperial 
physicians  daily  approach  the  bed  as  if  to  examine  the  patient,  who, 
of  course,  is  declining  rapidly.  At  last  they  declare  the  emperor  dead. 
The  bier  is  now  transported  by  the  highest  bom  knights  and  the 

*  Only  dictators,  consuls,  praetors  and,  occasionally,  legates  were  permitted  the 
triumphal  entrance.  Sometimes  the  train  of  spoils  and  captives  was  so  great  that 
two,  three,  and  even  four  days  were  required  for  the  parade.  In  later  times,  the 
triumphal  procession  was  exclusively  reserved  for  the  emi)eror. 


308  KOME. 

younger  senators  through  the  Via  Sacra  to  the  old  Forum,  and  there 
deposited  on  a  scafEolding  built  in  the  manner  of  a  terrace.  On  one 
side  stand  young  patricians,  on  the  other  noble  ladies,  intoning  hymns 
and  paeans  in  honor  of  the  deceased  to  a  solemn,  sad  tune  ;  after  which 
the  bier  is  taken  up  again,  and  carried  to  the  Campus  Martins.  A 
wooden  structure  in  the  form  of  a  house  has  been  erected  on  large 
bl  cks  of  wood  on  a  square  base  ;  the  inside  has  been  filled  with  dry 
sticks  ;  the  outside  is  adorned  with  gold-embroidered  carpets,  ivory 
statues,  and  various  sculptures.  The  bottom  story,  a  little  lower  than 
the  second,  shows  the  same  form  and  ornamentation  as  this ;  it  has 
open  doors  and  windows  ;  above  these  two  stories  rise  others,  growing 
narrow  toward  the  top  like  a  pyramid.  The  whole  structure  might  be 
compared  to  the  lighthouses  erected  in  harbors.  The  bier  is  placed 
in  the  second  story,  spices,  incense,  odoriferous  fruits  and  herbs  being 
heaped  round  it.  After  the  whol»room  has  been  filled  with  incense, 
the  knights  move  in  procession  round  the  entire  structure,  and  per- 
form some  military  evolutions  ;  they  are  followed  by  chariots  filled 
with  persons  wearing  masks  and  clad  in  purple  robes,  who  represent 
historic  characters,  such  as  celebrated  generals  and  kings.  After  these 
ceremonies  are  over,  the  heir  to  the  throne  throws  a  torch  into  the 
house,  into  which,  at  the  same  time,  flames  are  dashed  from  all  sides, 
which,  fed  by  the  combustible  materials  and  the  incense,  soon  begin 
to  devour  the  building.  At  this  juncture  an  eagle  rises  into  the  air 
from  the  highest  story  as  from  a  lofty  battlement,  and  carries,  accord- 
ing to  the  idea  of  the  I'omans,  the  soul  of  the  dead  emperor  to  heaven  ; 
from  that  moment  he  partakes  of  the  honors  of  the  gods." — Herodian. 


4.    SUMMARY. 

1.  Political  History. — Rome  began  as  a  single  city.  The 
growth  of  her  power  was  slow  but  steady.  She  became  head, — -first, 
of  the  neighboring  settlements;  second,  of  Latium;  third,  of  Italy; 
and  fourth,  of  the  lands  around  the  Mediterranean.  In  her  early  his- 
tory, there  was  a  fabulous  period  during  wliich  she  was  ruled  by  kings. 
The  last  of  the  S3ven  monarchs  belonged  to  a  foreign  dynasty,  and 
upon  his  expulsion  a  republic  was  established.  Two  centuries  of  con- 
flict ensued  between  the  patricians  and  the  plebs,  but  the  latter,  going 
ofttimes  to  Mount  Sacer,  gained  their  end  and  established  a  democracy. 

Meanwhile,  wars  vvith  powerful  neighbors  and  with  the  awe-in- 
spiring Gauls  had  developed  the  Roman  character  in  all  its  sternness, 
integrity,  and  patriotism.  Rome  next  came  in  contact  with  Pyrrhus, 
and  learned  how  to  fortify  her  military  camps  ;  then  with  Carthage, 
and  she  found  out  the  value  of  a  navy.     An  apt  pupil,  she  gained  the 


6  TT  M  M  A  R  Y  .  309 

mastery  of  tlie  sea,  invaded  Africa,  and  in  the  end  razed  Carthage  to 
the  ground.  Turning  to  the  west,  she  secured  Spain — the  silver- 
producing  country  of  that  age — and  Gaul,  whose  fiery  sons  lilled  the 
depleted  ranks  of  her  legions.  At  the  east,  she  intrigued  where  she 
could  and  fought  where  she  must,  and  by  disorganizing  states  made 
them  first  her  dependencies,  and  then  her  provinces.  Greece,  Macedon, 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Egypt,  Babylon,  were  but  stepping-stones  in  her 
progress  until  Parthia  alone  remained  to  bar  her  advance  to  the  Indus 
and  the  ocean. 

But  within  her  gates  the  struggle  between  the  rich  and  the  poor 
still  went  on.  Crowds  of  slaves — captives  of  her  many  wars- 
thronged  her  streets,  kept  her  shops,  waited  in  her  homes,  tilled  her 
land,  and  tended  her  flocks.  The  plebeians,  shut  out  from  honest 
toil,  straggled  for  the  patrician's  dole.  The  Civil  Wars  of  Sulla  and 
Marius  drenched  her  pavements  wi*h  the  blood  of  her  citizens.  The 
triumphs  of  Caesar  shed  a  gleam  of  glory  over  the  fading  republic,  but 
the  mis-aimed  daggers  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  that  slew  the  dictator 
struck  at  the  lieart  of  liberty  as  well. 

Augustus  brought  in  the  (Empire  and  an  era  of  peace.  Now  the 
army  gained  control  of  the  state.  Weak  and  wicked  emperors,  the 
luxury  of  wealth,  the  influx  of  Oriental  profligacy,  the  growth  of 
atheism,  and  the  greed  of  conquest,  undermined  the  fabric  of  Roman 
greatness.  The  inhabitants  of  the  provinces  were  made  Romans,  and, 
Rome  itself  being  lost  in  the  empire  it  had  created,  other  cities  became 
the  seats  of  government.  Amid  the  ruins  of  the  decaying  monarchy 
a  new  religion  supplanted  the  old,  and,  finally,  Teutonic  hordes  from 
the  north  overwhelmed  the  city  that  for  centuries  their  own  soldiers 
had  alone  upheld. 

2.  Civilization. — As  in  Greece  the  four  ancient  Attic  tribes  were 
subdivided  into  phratries,  gentes,  and  hearths,  so  in  Rome  the  three 
original  patrician  tribes  branched  into  curiae,  gentes,  and  families,  the 
paterfamilias  owning  all  the  property,  and  holding  the  life  of  his 
children  at  will. 

The  ciml  magistrates  comprised  consuls,  questors,  aediles,  and 
praetors. 

The  army  was  organized  in  legions,  cohorts,  companies,  and  cen- 
turies, with  four  classes  of  foot-soldiers,  who  fought  with  the  pilum 
and  the  javelin,  protected  themselves  with 'heavy  breastplates,  and 
carried  on  sieges  by  the  aid  of  ballistas,  battering-rams,  catapults,  and 
movable  towers.  In  later  times,  the  ranks  were  filled  by  foreigners 
and  mercenaries. 

Roman  literature,  child  of  the  Grecian,  is  rich  with  jnemorable 
names.  Ushered  in  by  Livius  Andronicus,  a  Greek  slave,  it  grew  with 
Naevius,  Ennius,  Plautus,  Terence,  Cato,  and  Lucilius.     The  learned 


310  feOMfi. 

Varro,  the  florid  Cicero,  the  sweet-strained  Virgil,  the  genial  Horace-, 
the  eloquent  Livy,  and  the  polished  Sallust,  graced  the  last  century 
before  Christ.  The  next  hundred  years  produced  the  studious  Pliny 
the  Elder,  the  two  inseparable  friends — Pliny  the  Younger  and  Taci- 
tus, the  sarcastic  Juvenal,  and  the  wise  Seneca. 

The  monuments  of  the  Romans  comprise  splendid  aqueducts, 
triumphal  arches,  military  roads,  bridges,  harbors,  and  tombs.  Their 
magnificent  palaces  and  luxurious  thermae  were  fitted  up  with  reckless 
extravagance  and  dazzling  display.  All  the  spoils  of  conquered 
nations  enriched  their  capital,  and  all  the  foreign  arts  and  inventions 
were  impressed  into  their  service. 

The  proud,  dignified,  ambitious  Roman  had  no  love  or  tenderness 
for  aught  but  his  national  supremacy.  Seldom  indulging  in  sentiment 
toward  family  or  kindred,  he  recognized  no  law  of  humanity  toward 
his  slaves.  His  religion  was  a  commercial  bargain  with  the  gods,  in 
which  each  was  at  liberty  to  outwit  the  other.  His  icorship  was  mostly 
confined  to  the  public  ceremonies  at  the  shrine  of  Vesta,  and  the  con- 
stant household  offerings  to  the  Lares  and  Penates.  Wi^  public  games 
were  a  degraded  imitation  of  the  Grecian,  and  he  took  his  chief  delight 
in  bloody  gladiatorial  shows  and  wild-beast  fights. 

A  race  of  borrowers,  the  Romans  assimilated  into  their  nationality 
most  of  the  excellences  as  well  as  many  of  the  vices  of  other  peoples, 
for  centuries  stamping  the  whole  civilized  world  with  their  character, 
and  dominating  it  by  their  successes.  "  As  to  Rome  all  ancient  history 
converges,  so  from  Rome  all  modern  history  begins." 

Finally,  as  a  central  point  in  the  history  of  all  time,  in  the  midst  of 
the  brilliancy  of  the  Augustan  Age,  while  Cicero,  Sallust,  Virgil,  and 
Horace  were  fresh  in  the  memory  of  their  still  living  friends,  with 
Seneca  in  his  childhood  and  Livy  in  his  prime,  the  empire  at  its  best, 
and  Rome  radiant  in  its  growing  transformation  from  brick  to  marble 
under  the  guiding  rule  of  the  greatest  of  the  Caesars,  there  was  born 
in  an  obscure  Roman  province  the  humble  Babe  whose  name  far  out- 
ranks all  these,  and  from  whose  nativity  are  dated  all  the  centuries 
which  have  succeeded. 


READING    REFERENCES. 

MerivaWs  History  of  the  Romans.— Iline's  History  of  Rome,  and  Early  Rome.— 
History  Primers  ;  Rome,  and  Roman  Antiquities,  edited  by  Green.  —Arnold's  His- 
tory of  Rome.—Mebuhr's  History  of  Rome.— Smith's  smaller  History  of  Rome.— 
Gibb&n's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.— Ouhl  and  Konefs  Life  of  the 
Qreeks  and  Romans.— KnighV s  Social  Life  of  the  Romans— Plutarch' s  Lives.— Mil- 
man's  Mstory  of  Christianity.— Momtnsen's  History  of  Rome.— Fronde's  Life  of  Ccesar. 
—BeckeT''8  Charides,  and  GaUus.-Macaulay's  Lays  of  Ancient  B(mu.—ShaJc8pere'8 


CHKONOLOG  Y. 


311 


Jiclitis  Cmsar,  Cojiolamts,  and  Antony  and  Cleopatra.— ForsyWs  Life  of  Cicero. — 
Napoleon's  {HI.)  Life  of  Coesar.—  Canina's  Edifices  of  Ancient  Bome.—FergussorC 8 
History  of  Arc/d!ecfure.—Bulic€r's  Last  Days  of  Poinpeii,  and  Pdenzi  The  Last  of 
the  Tribunes.— Michelet' s  Roman  Republic— Heeren''s  Historical  Researches.— Phiz's 
Hand-booh  of  Ancisnt  History.— Harems  Walks  in  Rome.—Kingsley's  Hypatia— Lord's 
Old  Roman  World.— Mann's  Ancient  and  MediavaZ  Republics.— Lawrence' s  Primer 
of  Roman  Literature.— Collins" s  Ancient  Classics  far  English  Readers  (a  series 
giving  sinking  passages  from  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics,  ivith  excellent  explana- 
tory notes,  lives  of  the  authors,  etc.).— Dyer's  Pompeii. — Herbe?inann's  Business  Life  in 
Ancient  Rome.—  Quackenbos's  Ancient  Literature  {a  useful  resume). 


CHRONOLOGY. 


B.C. 

Rome  founded 753 

Republic  est ublished 509 

The  Decemvirs 451 

Rome  fallen  by  Gauls 390 

First  Samnite  War 3-13-341 

Great  Latin  War 34>) -3:38 

Second  Samnite  War :2:;-3C4 

Third         "  "     298-290 

Wars  with  Pyrrhus 280-276 

First  Punic  War 264-241 

Second    "       "  218-201 

Battle  of  the  Trebia 218 

*'     "  Lake  Trasimenus 217 

"     "  Cannae.  216 

Siege  of  Capua  214-211 

Battle  of  the  Metaurus 207 

"    "  Zama 202 

Second  Macedonian  War 200-197 

Fattle  of  Magnesia 190 

Death  of  Hannibal  and  Scipio  Afri- 

canus 183 

Third  Macedonian  War 171-1C8 

Battle  of  Pydna 168 

Third  Punic  War 149-146 

Fall  of  Cartha;^e  and  Corinth 146 

Death  of  Tiberius  Gracchus 133 

Jugurthine  War 111-104 

Marius  defeated  Teutones  at  Aquae 

Sextise  (Aix) 102 

Marius  defeated  Cimbri 101 

Social  War  90-88 

First  Mithridatic  War 88-84 

Massacre  by  Marius 87 

Second  Mithridatic  War 83-81 

Sulla's  Proscriptions 83 

Third  Mithridatic  War 74-63 

War  of  Spartacus. 73-71 

Mediterranean  Pirates  67 

Conspiracjr  of  Catiline 63 


First  Triumvirate 60 

Caesar  in  Gaul 58-49 

"      invades  Britain 55 

"      crosses  the  Rubicon 49 

Battle  of  Pharsalia— death  of  Pom- 

pey 48 

Suicide  of  Cato 46 

Caesar  murdered 44 

Second  Triumvirate,  death  of  Cicero  43 
Battle  of  Philippi,  death  of  Brutus 

and  Cassius 42 

Battle  of  Actium 31 


r  Augustus. 


31 

A.  D. 

Tiberius 14 

Caligula  37 

t    Claudius 41 

H     Nero 54 

Galba 68 

Otho 69 

ViteUius 69 

Vespasian 69 

Titus 79 

Domitian 81 

Nerva 96 

Trajan 98 

Hadrian 117 

Antoninus  Pius 138 

M.  Aurelius  Antoninus 161-180 

L.  Verus 161-169 

Commodus 180 

Pertrnax 193 

Didius  Julianus .     193 

Septimius  Severus 193 

Caracallus 211-217 

Geta 211-212 

Macrinus 217 

Elagabalus  (the  sun-priest)  218 

Alexander  Severus ...,,,..,,..,,..,    ^ 


312 


ROME. 


Maximinns 

Gordian  I.  } 

Gordianll. ) 

Piipienus  Maximus ) 

Balbinus ) 

Gordian  III 

Philip  the  Arabian 

Decius 

Gallus 

^milian 

Valerian 

GaUienus. 

Claudius  II 

Aurelian 

Tacitus 

Florian 

Probus ...  *  — 

Carus 

Carinns  and  Numerian  . .   

Diocletian,  with  Maximian 

Constantius,  with  Galerius 

Constantine  I.  (the  Great),  with  Ga- 
lerius, Severus,  and  Maxentius. . . 


244 
249 
251 
253 
253 
260 
268 
270 
275 
276 
276 


284 
305 


A.D. 

Constantine,  with  Licinius 307 

Constantine,  with  Maximinus 308 

Constantine,  alone 323 

Constantine   II.,    Constantius    n., 

Constans  1 337 

Julian  the  Apostate 861 

Jovian 363 

Valentinianl 364 

Gratian  and  Valentinian  II 375 

Valentinian  II.  . .   383 

Theodosius  (East  and  West) .....  392 

Honorius 395 

Theodosius  II.  (East  and  West) 423 

Valentinian  III 425 

Petronius  Maximus 455 

Avitus 455 

Majorian 457 

Libius  Severus 461 

Anthemius 467 

Olybrius 472 

Glycerins 473 

Julius  Nepos 474 

Komulus  Augustulus 475-476 


TOMBb  ALONG  THE  AFPIAN   WAV, 


Medieval     Peoples 


BLACKBOARD    ANALYSIS. 


o 

< 

I— ( 
P 
H 


'  1.  Introduction.  ■ 


Rise  of  the 
Saracens, 


Rise  of  tfie 
Frankisfi 
Empire. 


4.  Rise  of  IVIoci- 
ern  Nations. 


1.  Chief  Events  of  Middle  Ages.    Characteristics. 

2.  General  Divisions. 

3.  The  Teutonic  Settlements. 

4.  The  Character  of  the  Teutonic  Conquest. 

5.  The  Eastern  Empire. 

6.  The  Papacy. 

7.  Early  German  Civilization. 

1.  Mohammed. 

2.  The  Caliphs. 

3.  Saracens  in  Europe.    Extent  of  Empire. 

4.  Saracen  Divisions. 

5.  Saracen  Civilization. 

1.  Clovis  and  the  Franks.    Merovingian  Dynasty. 
Pepin  the  Short.    Carlovingian  Dynasty. 
His  Conquests. 
Crowued  Emperor. 
Government. 
Charlemagne  and  his  Court. 

Roman. 


3.  Charlemagne. 


il 


1.  England. 


2.   France. 


[.  The  Four  Conquests. 


Gro\vth  of   Consti- 
tutional liberty. 


b.  Anglo-Saxon. 

c.  Danuh. 

d.  Norman. 

a.  Ritnn/ymede 
and  Magna 
Charta. 
The  House  of 
Commons. 


b. 


3   Conquest  of  Ireland. 

4.  Conquest  of  Wales. 

5.  Conquest  of  Scotland. 

6.  Wars  of  the  Roses. 

7.  Early  English  Civilization. 

1.  Rollo  and  the  Norsemen. 

2.  Capet.    The  Capetian  Dynasty. 

3.  Weakness  of  the  Monarchy. 

C  a.  Philip  Augustus, 
b.  Louis  IX. 


4.  Growth    of   the 
Monarchy  under 


c.  Philip  IV. 

d.  Louis  XL 

—  Tnumph  of  Ab- 
solutism. 


3.  Germany 


4.  Switzerland 


5.  Italy  in  the  Middle  Ages. 


6.  The  Crusades. 

7.  The  Moors  in  Spain. 

Asia  in  the  Middle  Ages,")  2.  The  Turki 
''  1.  Feudalism 


9.  Mediaeval  Civilization. 


5.  House  of  Valois. 

6.  Tlie  Hundred- Years  War. 
T.  The  Kingdom  of  Burgundy 

8.  Consolidation  of  French  Monarchy. 

9.  Early  French  Civilizaiion. 

1.  Comparison  with  France. 

2.  The  Saxon  Dynasty. 
The  Franconian  Dynasty. 
The  Hohenstaufen  Line. 
Great  Interregnum. 
The  Hapsburgs. 
Origin. 

Three  Great  Battles. 
Growth  of  the  Confederacy. 

1.  Papal  Power. 

f  1.  Venice. 

2.lTA.XA.C.T,...j|;g'°™r- 

t  4.  Rome. 
1-8.  The  Eight  Crusades. 
9.  Effects  of  the  Crusades. 
1.  The  Monguls. 

[When  writing  upon  the 
blackboard,  the  pupil  can  fill 
out  the  subdivisions  from  the 
headings  of  the  paragraphs  in 
the  text.] 


.  3. 


2.  The  Castle. 

3.  Chivalry. 

4.  The  Knight. 
5  The  Tournament 

6.  Education  and  Literature 

7.  Manners  and  Customs. 


^V[edI;CVAL  pEOf  ^^^ 


IN    SIGHT    OF    ROME. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  Middle  Ages  extend 
from  the  Fall  of  Eome  (476) 
to  the  capture  of  Constantino- 
ple (1453)— about  1000  years. 
During  this  period  the  chief 
events  were  the  migrations  of  the  northern  barbarians 
(p.    266) ;    the  invasion  of    the   Saracens ;    the  establish- 

Geoffvaphical  Questions.— These  queries  are  intended  to  test  the  pupil's 
knowledge,  to  make  him  familiar  with  the  maps  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  prepare  him 
to  locate  the  history  he  is  about  to  study.  See  list  of  maps,  p.  xii.  Bound  Syria, 
Arabia,  Gaul,  Britain,  Spain,  Norway,  Sweden,  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Hungary, 


316  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 

ment  of  the  Frankish  kingdom,  including  the  empire  of 
Charlemagne ;  the  rise  of  the  modern  nations ;  the  Cru- 
sades; the  Hundred- Years  War ;  and  the  Wars  of  the  Roses. 
The  era  was,  in  general,  characterized  by  the  decline  of 
letters  and  art,  the  rise  of  Feudalism  or  the  rule  of  the 
nobles,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Papal  Power. 

Two  Divisions. — Six  of  the  ten  centuries  composing  this 
period  are  called  the  Dark  Ages — a  long  night  following  the 
brilliant  day  of  Roman  civilization.  The  last  four  centuries 
constitute  the  dawn  of  the  Modern  Era.  Wandering  tribes 
then  became  settled  nations ;  learning  revived ;  and  order 
and  civilization  began  to  resume  their  sway. 

A  new  era  of  the  world  began  in  the  5th  century.  The 
gods  of  Greece  and  Rome  had  passed  away,  and  a  better 
religion  was  taking  their  place.  The  old  actors  had  vanished 
from  the  stage,  and  strange  names  appeared.  Europe  pre- 
sented a  scene  of  chaos.  The  institutions  of  centuries  had 
crumbled.  Everywhere  among  the  ruins  barbarian  hordes 
were  struggling  for  the  mastery.  Amid  this  confusion  we 
are  to  trace  the  gradual  outgrowth  of  the  modern  nation- 
Poland,  Russia.— Locate  Carthage,  Jerusalem,  Mecca,  Damascus,  Bagdad,  Alex- 
andria, Acre,  Tunis,  Moscow,  Delhi,  Constantinople. 

Locate  Tours,  Eheims,  Fontenay,  Verdun,  Cr^cy,  Poitiers,  Azincourt,  Limoges, 
Calais,  Eouen,  Orleans,  Metz,  Avignon,  Bordeaux.— Locate  Cordova,  Seville,- Gra- 
nada, Castile,  Aragon,  Leon. 

Locate  Lombardy,  Sicily,  Pisa,  Genoa,  Eome,  Florence,  Milan,  Naples,  Venice, 
Salerno,  Legnano,  Padua,  Bologna,  Savoy. 

Locate  London,  Hastings,  Oxford,  Runnymede,  Lewes,  Bosworth,  Dover,  Ban- 
nockburn.— Locate  the  Netherlands  (Low  Countries),  Flanders,  Bouvines,  Courtrai, 
Ghent,  Bruges,  Rosebecque,  Aix-la-Chapelle.- Describe  the  Indus,  Rhine,  Rhone, 
Danube,  Seine,  Loire.— Point  out  Bavaria,  Saxony,  Franconia,  Swabia,  Thuringia, 
Basle,  Prague,  Worms,  Waiblingen. 

Point  out  the  French  provinces  ;  Normandy,  Provence,  Aquitaine,  Brittany,  Bur- 
gundy, Champaigne,  Maine,  Anjou,  Toulouse,  Valois,  Navarre,  Gascony,  Lorraine, 
Armagnac',  Alsace,  Franche  Cornt^.— Locate  Granson,  Morat,  Nancy,  Morgarten, 
Sempach,  Geneva. 


318  MEDIJEVAL     PEOPLES. 

alities.*  Heretofore  the  history  of  one  great  nation  has  been 
that  of  the  civilized  world,  changing  its  name  only  as  power 
passed,  from  time  to  time,  into  the  hands  of  a  different 
people.  Henceforth  there  are  to  be  not  one  but  many  cen- 
ters of  civilization. 

Teutonic  Settlements.  —  The  Teutons  or  Germans 
(p.  322)  were  the  chief  heirs  of  Rome.  By  the  6th  century 
the  Vandals  had  established  a  province  in  northern  Africa  ; 
the  Visigoths  had  set  up  a  Gothic  kingdom  in  Spain  and 
in  southern  Gaul  (p.  268) ;  the  Franks,  under  Clovis, 
had  firmly  planted  themselves  in  northern  Gaul ;  the  BuT- 
gundians  had  occupied  south-eastern  Gaul;  and  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  had  crossed  the  channel  and  conquered  a  large  part 
of  Britain. 

The  Ostrogoths,  under  Theodoric  (489),  cHmbed  the  Alps 
and  overthrew  Odoacer,  the  king  of  Italy  (page  269). 
Theodoric  established  his  government  at  Ravenna,  under  a 
nominal  commission  from  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople. 
The  Visigoths  accepted  him  as  chief,  and  his  kingdom  ulti- 
mately extended  from  the  heart  of  Spain  to  the  Danube. 
An  Arian,  he  yet  favored  the  Catholics  ;  and,  though  unable 
to  read  or  write,  encouraged  learning.  "The  fair-haired 
Goths,"  says  Collier,  ^'^  still  wearing  their  furs  and  brogues, 
carried  the  sword  ;  while  the  Romans,  wrapped  in  the  flow- 
ing toga,  held  the  pen  and  filled  the  schools." 

Character  of  the    Teutonic    Conquest  f — In  Italy, 

*  The  thoughtful  student  of  history  sees  in  the  Middle  Ages  a  time  not  of  decay, 
but  of  preparation ;  a  period  during  which  the  seeds  of  a  better  growth  were  germi- 
nating in  the  soil.  Amid  feudal  chaos,  the  nations  were  being  molded,  language  was 
forming,  thought  taking  shape,  and  social  forces  were  gathering  that  were  to  bear 
mankind  to  a  higher  civilization  than  the  world  had  ever  seen. 

t  While  the  Teutonic  conquest,  in  the  end,  brought  into  Mediaeval  civilization  a 
new  force,  a  sense  of  personal  liberty,  and  domestic  virtues  unknown  to  the  Ko- 
mans,  yet,  at  the  time,  it  seemed  an  undoing  of  the  best  work  of  ages.  During  the 
merciless  massacre  that  lasted  for  centuries  upon  the  island  of  Britain,  the  priests 
were  slain  at  the  altar,  the  churches  burned,  and  the  inhabitants  nearly  annihilated  ; 


INTRODUCTION-.  319 

Gaul,  and  Spain,  the  various  Teutonic  tribes  did  not  expel, 
but  absorbed,  the  native  population.  The  two  races 
gradually  blended.  Out  of  the  mingling  of  the  German 
and  the  Roman  speech,  there  grew  up  in  time  the  Ro- 
mance languages — Spanish,  Italian,  and  French.  Latin, 
however,  was  for  centuries  used  in  writing.  Thus  the 
Roman  names  and  forms  remained  after  the  empire  had 
fallen.  The  invaders  adopted  the  laws,  civilization,  and 
Christian  religion  of  the  conquered.  The  old  clergy  retained 
their  places,  and  their  influence  was  greatly  increased  ;  the 
churches  became  a  common  refuge,  and  the  bisho'ps  the 
only  protectors  of  the  poor  and  weak. 

On  the  contrary,  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who  conquered 
Britain,  enslaved  or  drove  back  the  few  natives  who  sur- 
vived the  horrors  of  the  invasion.  Not  having  been,  while 
in  Germany,  brought  in  contact  with  the  Roman  power, 
these  Teutons  had  no  i*espect  for  its  superior  civilization. 
They  did  not,  therefore,  adopt  either  the  Roman  language 
or  religion.  Christianity  came  at  a  later  day ;  while  the  Eng- 
lish speech  is  still  in  its  essence  the  same  that  our  forefathers 
brought  over  from  the  wilds  of  Germany. 

The  Eastern,  Greek,  or  Byzantine  Empire,  as  it  is 
variously  called,  was  governed  by  effeminate  princes  until 
the  time  of  Justinian  (527),  who  won  back  a  large  part  of 


while  the  Roman  and  Christian  civilization  was  blotted  out,  and  a  barbaric  rule 
set  up  in  its  place.  The  cruel  Vandals  in  Spain  (p.  269)  found  fertile,  populous 
Roman  provinces;  they  left  behind  them  a  desert.  The  Burj^undians  were  the 
mildest  of  the  Teutonic  conquerors,  yet  where  they  settled  they  compelled  the  in- 
habitants to  give  up  two-thirds  of  the  land,  one-half  of  the  houses,  gardens,  groves, 
etc.,  and  one-third  of  the  slaves.  Italy,  under  the  ravages  of  the  terrible  Lombards 
and  other  northern  hordes,  became  a  "  wilderness  overgrown  with  brushwood  and 
black  with  stagnant  marshes."  Its  once  cultivated  fields  were  barren  ;  a  few  miser- 
able people  wandered  in  fear  among  the  ruins  of  the  churches— their  hiding-places- 
while  the  land  was  covered  with  the  bones  of  the  slain.  Rome  became  almost  as 
desolate  as  Babylon.  "  The  baths  and  temples  had  been  spared  by  the  barbarians, 
and  the  water  still  poured  through  the  mighty  aqueducts,  but  at  one  time  there  were 
pot  five  hundred  persons  dwelling  among  the  magnificent  ruins." 


320  MEDIAEVAL     PEOPLES. 

the  lost  empire.  His  famous  general  Belisarius  captured 
Carthage,*  and  overwhelmed  the  Vandal  power  in  Africa. 
He  next  invaded  Italy  and  took  Rome,  but  being  recalled  by 
Justinian,  who  was  envious  of  the  popularity  of  his  great 
general,  the  eunuch  Narses  was  sent  thither,  and,  under  his 
skillful  management,  the  very  race  and  name  of  the  Ostro- 
goths perished.  Italy  was  now  united  to  the  Eastern 
Empire,  and  governed  by  rulers  called  the  Exarchs  of 
Ravenna.  So  Justinian  reigned  over  both  Old  and  New 
Rome. 

The  Roman  laws,  at  this  time,  consisted  of  the  decrees, 
and  often  the  chance  expressions  of  the  three-score  emperors 
from  Hadrian  to  Justinian."  They  filled  thousands  of  vol- 
umes, and  were  frequently  contradictory.  Tribonian,  a 
celebrated  lawyer,  was  employed  to  bring  order  out  of  this 
chaos.  He  condensed  the  laws  into  a  code  that  is  still  the 
basis  of  the  civil  law  of  Europe. 

During  this  reign,  two  Persian  monks,  who  had  gone  to 
China  as  Christian  missionaries,  brought  back  to  Justinian 
the  eggs  of  the  silk- worm  concealed  in  a  hollow  cane.  Silk 
manufacture  was  thus  introduced  into  Europe. 

The  Lombards  (568),  a  fierce  German  tribe,  after  Jus- 
tinian's death  poured  into  Italy  and  overran  the  fruitful 
plain  that  still  bears  their  name. ,  For  about  200  years  the 
Lombard  kings  shared  Italy  with  the  Exarchs  of  Ravenna. 

The  Papacy. — During  these  centuries  of  change,  confu- 
sion, and  ruin,  the  Christian  Church  had  alone  retained  its 

*  Among  the  treasures  of  Carthage  were  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  temple  at  Jeru- 
salem taken  by  Titus  to  Rome,  and  thence  carried  to  Carthage  by  Genseric.  As 
these  relics  were  thought  to  presage  ruin  to  the  city  which  kept  them,  they  were 
now  returned  to  the  Cathedral  at  Jerusalem,  and  their  subsequent  fate  is  unknown. 
According  to  the  legend,  contradicted  by  many  historians  but  eagerly  seized  by 
poets  and  painters,  Belisarius  in  his  old  age  was  falsely  accused  of  treason,  degraded 
from  his  honors,  and  deprived  of  his  sight :  often  thereafter  the  blind  old  man  was 
to  be  seen  standing  at  the  Cathedral  door,  begging  "  a  penny  for  Belisarius,  the 
general," 


INTRODtTCTiON 


321 


organization.  The  barbarians,  even  the  Lombards — the 
most  cruel  of  all — were  in  time  converted  to  Christianity. 
The  people  who,  until  the  overthrow  of  the  emperor,  had 
been  accustomed  to  depend  upon  Kome  for  political  guid- 
ance, naturally  continued  to  look  thither  for  spiritual  con- 
trol, and  the  Bishop  of  Rome  insensibly  became  the  head  of 
the  Catholic  Church. "  Thus  for  centuries  the  Papacy  (Lat. 
Papa,  a  bishop)  kept  gaining  strength,  the  Christian  fathers 
Ambrose,  Augustine,  Jerome,  Gregory  the  Great,  and  a  host 
of  other  active  intellects,  shaping  its  doctrines  and  disci- 
pline. Finally  "a  new  Rome  rose  from  the  ashes  of  the 
old,  far  mightier  than  the  vanished  empire,  for  it  claimed 
dominion  over  the  spirits  of  men." 

The  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  also  asserted  the  pre- 
eminence of  his  See,  and,  on  account  of  the  opposition  he 
met  from  Rome,  the  Eastern,  or  Greek,  church  gradually 
separated  from  the  Western,  or  Roman,  in  interest,  disci- 
pline, and  doctrine. 


THS    PAFAL    INSIGNIA. 


322  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


EARLY     G-ERMAN     CIVILIZATION. 

Two  thousand  years  ago,  in  the  dense  forests  and  gloomy  marshes 
of  a  rude,  bleak  land,  dwelt  a  gigantic,  white  skinned,  blue-eyed,  yel- 
low-haired race — our  German  ancestors. 

The  Men,  fierce  and  powerful,  wore  over  their  huge  bodies  a  short 
girdled  cloak,  or  the  skin  of  some  wild  beast,  whose  head,  with  pro- 
truding tusks  or  horns,  formed  a  hideous  setting  for  their  bearded  faces 
and  cold,  cruel  eyes.  Brave,  hospitable,  restless,  ferocious,  they  wor- 
shipped freedom,  and  were  ready  to  fight  to  the  death  for  their  personal 
independence.  They  cared  much  less  for  agriculture  than  for  hunting, 
and  delighted  in  war.  Their  chief  vices  were  gambling  and  drunken- 
ness ;  their  conspicuous  virtues  were  truthfulness  and  respect  for 
woman. 

The  Women — massive  like  the  men,  and  wooed  with  a  marriage 
gift  of  war-horse,  shield,  and  weapons — spun  and  wove,  cared  for  the 
household,  tilled  the  ground,  and  went  with  their  lords  to  battle,  where 
their  shouts  rang  above  the  clash  of  the  spear  and  the  thud  of  the  war- 
axe.  They  held  religious  festivals,  at  which  no  man  was  allowed  to  be 
present,  and  they  were  believed  to  possess  a  special  gift  of  foresight ; 
yet,  for  all  that,  the  Teuton  wife  was  bought  from  her  kindred  and 
was  subject  to  her  spouse.  As  priestesses,  they  cut  the  throats  of  war- 
captives  and  read  portents  in  the  flowing  blood  ;  and  after  a  lost  battle 
they  killed  themselves  beside  their  slaughtered  husbands. 

The  Home — when  there  was  one— was  a  hut  made  of  logs  filled  in 
with  platted  withes,  straw,  and  lime,  and  covered  by  a  thatched  roof, 
which  also  sheltered  the  cattle.  Here  the  children  were  reared,  hard- 
ened from  their  babyhood  with  ice-cold  baths,  given  weapons  for  play- 
things, and  for  bed  a  bear's  hide  laid  on  the  ground.  Many  tribes  were 
such  lawless  wanderers  that  they  knew  not  the  meaning  of  home,  and 
all  hated  the  confinement  of  walled  towns  or  cities,  which  they  likened 
to  prisons. 

Civil  Institutions  and  Government. — Every  tribe  had  its 
nobles,  freemen,  freedmen,  and  slaves.  When  there  was  a  king,  he 
was  elected  from  a  royal  family — the  traditional  descendants  of  the 
divine  Woden.  All  freemen  had  equal  rights  and  a  personal  voice  in 
the  government ;  the  freedman  or  peasant  was  allowed  to  bear  arms, 
but  not  to  vote ;  the  slave  was  classed  with  the  beast  as  the  absolute 
property  of  his  owner. 

The  Land  belonging  to  a  tribe  was  divided  into  districts,  hun- 
dreds, and  marks.  The  inhabitants  of  a  mark  were  usually  kindred, 
who  dwelt  on  scattered  homesteads  and  held  its  unoccupied  lands  in 


INTROD  tJCTION^.  323 

common.  The  mark  and  the  hundred,  as  well  as  the  district,  had  each 
its  own  stated  open  air  assembly,  where  were  settled  the  petty  local  dis- 
putes ;  its  members  sat  together  in  the  tribal  assembly,  and  fought  side 
by  side  in  battle.     (Compare  with  Greeks,  p.  192.) 

The  General  Asumbly  of  the  tribe  was  also  held  in  the  open  air, 
near  some  sacred  tree,  at  new  or  full  moon.  Hither  flocked  all  the 
freemen  in  full  armor.  The  night  was  spent  in  noisy  discussion  and 
festive  carousal.  As  the  great  ox-horns  of  ale  or  mead  were  passed 
from  hand  to  hand,  measures  of  gravest  importance  were  adopted  by  a 
ringing  clash  of  weapons  or  rejected  with  cries  and  groans,  till  the  whole 
forest  resounded  with  the  tumult.  When  the  din  became  intolerable, 
silence  was  proclaimed  in  the  name  of  the  gods.  The  next  day  the  few 
who  were  still  sober  reconsidered  the  night's  debate  and  gave  a  final 
decision. 

The  Family  was  the  unit  of  German  society.  Every  household 
was  a  little  republic,  its  head  being  responsible  to  the  community  for 
its  acts.  The  person  and  the  home  were  sacred,  and  no  law  could 
seize  a  man  in  his  own  house;  in  extreme  cases,  his  well  might  be 
choked  up  and  his  dwelling  fired  or  unroofed,  but  no  one  presumed  to 
break  open  his  door.  As  each  family  redressed  its  own  wrongs,  a  slain 
kinsman  was  an  appeal  to  every  member  for  vengeance.  The  bloody 
complications  to  which  this  system  led  were,  in  later  times,  mitigated 
by  the  iceregeld,  a  legal  tariff  of  compensations  by  which  even  a  mur- 
derer (if  not  wilful)  might  "  stop  the  feud"  by  paying  a  prescribed  sum 
to  the  injured  family,  '(p.  348.) 

Fellowship  in  Arms.— The  stubbornness  with  which  the  Ger- 
man resisted  personal  coercion  was  equaled  by  his  zeal  as  a  voluntary 
follower.  From  him  came  the  idea  of  giving  service  for  reward,  which 
afterward  expanded  into  Feudalism  (p.  408),  and  influenced  European 
society  for  hundreds  of  years.  In  time  of  war,  young  freemen  were 
wont  to  bind  themselves  together  under  a  chosen  leader,  whom  they 
hoisted  on  a  shield  and  thus,  amid  the  clash  of  arms  and  smoke  of 
sacrifice,  formally  adopted  as  their  chief.  Henceforth  they  rendered  him 
an  unswerving  devotion.  On  the  field  they  were  his  body-guard,  and 
in  peace  they  lived  upon  his  bounty,  sharing  in  the  rewards  of  victory. 
For  a  warrior  to  return  alive  from  a  battle  in  which  his  leader  was 
slain  was  a  life-long  disgrace. — These  voluntary  unions  formed  the 
strength  of  the  army.  The  renown  of  a  successful  chief  spread  to  other 
tribes  ;  presents  and  embassies  were  sent  to  him  ;  his  followers  multi- 
plied and  his  conquests  extended  until,  at  last — as  in  the  Saxon  inva- 
sions of  England — he  won  for  himself  a  kingdom  and  made  princes  of 
his  bravest  liegemen. 

The  Germans  fought  with  clubs,  lances,  axes,  arrows,  and 
spears.     They  roused  themselves  to  action  with  a  boisterous  war-song, 


324 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES 


ELEVATING  ON  THE  SHIELD. 


increasing  the  frightful  clamor  by  placing  their  hollow  shields  before 
their  faces.  Metal  armor  and  helmets  were  scarce,  and  their  shields 
were  made  of  wood  or  platted  twigs  *  Yet  when  Julius  Csesar  crossed 
the  Rhine,  even  his  iron-clad  legions  failed  to  daunt  these  sturdy  war- 
riors, who  boasted  that  they  upheld  the  heavens  with  their  lances,  and 
had  not  slept  under  a  roof  for  years.  They  fiercely  resisted  the  encroach- 
ments of  their  southern  invaders,  and  when,  at  the  close  of  the  second 
century  A.  d.  the  Emperor  Commodus  bought  with  gold  the  peace  he 
could  not  win  with  the  sword,  he  found  that  one  tribe  alone  had  taken 
fifty  thousand,  and  another  one  hundred  thousand  Homan  prisoners. 

The  Teutonic  Keligion  encouraged  bravery  and  even  reckless- 
ness in  battle,  for  it  taught  that  only  those  who  fell  by  the  sword  could 
enter  Walhalla,  the  palace  of  the  great  god  Woden,  whither  they 

*  What  they  lacked  in  armor  they  made  up  in  pluck  and  endurance.  When  the 
Cimbri  invaded  Italy  by  way  of'the  Tyrol  (102  b.  c),  they  stripped  their  huge  bodies 
and  plunged  into  the  frozen  snow,  or,  sitting  on  their  gaudy  shields,  coasted  down 
the  dangerous  descents  with  shouts  of  savage  laughter,  while  the  Bomans  in  the 
passes  below  looked  ou  in  wondering  dismay. 


IKTBODtrCTIOK.  325 

moniited  on  the  rainbow,  and  where  they  fought  and  feasted  forever. 
Those  who  died  of  illness  or  old  age  went  to  a  land  of  ice  and  fogs. 
The  gods — including  the  sun,  moon,  and  other  powers  of  nature — were 
worshiped  in  sacred  groves,  on  heaths  and  holy  mountains,  or  under 
single,  gigantic  trees.  Human  sacrifices  were  sometimes  offered,  but 
the  favorite  victim,  as  in  ancient  Persia,  was  a  horse,  the  flesh  of  which 
was  cooked  and  eaten  by  the  worshipers.  In  later  times,  the  eating  of 
horseflesh  became  a  mark  of  distinction  between  heathen  and  Christian. 
Our  week-days  perpetuate  the  names  under  which  some  of  the  chief 
Teutonic  gods  were  known.  Thus  we  have  the  Sun^&j,  the  Moon-daj, 
Tui's  day,  Woden's  day,  Thor's  day,  Freya-ddij,  and  ScBterAdLj. 

Agriculture,  Arts,  and  Letters.— Among  the  forests  and 
marshes  of  Germany,  the  Romans  found  cultivated  fields  and  rich  pas- 
tures. There  were  neither  roads  nor  bridges,  but  for  months  in  the 
year  the  great  rivers  were  frozen  so  deeply  that  an  army  could  pass  on 
the  ice.  From  the  iron  in  the  mountains  the  men  made  domestic, 
farming,  and  war  utensils,  and  from  the  flax  in  the  field  the  women 
spun  and  wove  garments.  There  were  rude  plows  for  the  farm,  chariots 
for  religious  rites,  and  cars  for  the  war-march  ;  but  beyond  these  few 
simple  arts,  the  Germans  were  little  better  than  savages. — The  time  of 
Christ  was  near.  Over  four  centuries  had  passed  since  the  brilliant 
Age  of  Pericles  in  Athens,  and  three  centuries  since  the  founding  of 
the  Alexandrian  library  ;  Virgil  and  Horace  had  laid  down  their  pens, 
and  Livy  was  still  at  work  on  his  closely- written  parchments ;  Rome, 
rich  in  the  splendor  of  the  xlugustan  Age,  was  founding  libraries,  es- 
tablishing museums,  and  bringing  forth  poets,  orators,  and  statesmen  ; 
yet  the  great  nation,  whose  descendants  were  to  include  Goethe, 
Shakspere,  and  Mendelssohn,  had  not  a  native  book,  knew  nothing  of 
writing,  and  shouted  ita  savage  war-song  to  the  uproar  of  rude  drums 
and  great  blasts  on  the  painted  horns  of  a  wild  bull. 

The  Germans  in  Later  Times.— Before  even  the  era  of  the 
Great  Migration  (p.  266),  the  fifty  scattered  tribes  had  become  united 
in  vast  confederations,  chief  among  which  were  the  Saxons,  Allemanni, 
Burgundians,  Goths,  Franks,  Vandals,  and  Longobards  (Lombards). 
Led  sometimes  by  their  hard  forest  fare,  sometimes  by  the  love  of  ad- 
venture, they  constantly  sent  forth  th-^nr  surplus  population  to  attack 
and  pillage  foreign  lands.  For  centuries,  Germany  was  like  a  hive 
whence  ever  and  anon  swarmed  vast  hordes  of  hardy  warriors,  who  set 
out  with  their  families  and  goods  to  find  a  new  home.  Legions  of 
German  soldiers  were  constantly  enlisted  to  fight  under  the  Roman 
eagles.  The  veterans  returned  home  with  new  habits  of  thought  and 
life.  Their  stories  of  the  magnificence  and  grandeur  of  the  Mistress  of 
the  World  excited  the  imagination  and  kindled  the  ardor  of  their  lis- 
teners.    Gradually  the  Roman  civilization  and  the  glory  of  the  Roman 


326 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


name  accomplished  what  the  sword  had  failed  to  effect.  Around  the 
forts  along  the  Rhine,  cities  grew  up,  such  as  Mayence,  Worms,  Baden, 
Cologne,  and  Strasburg.  The  frontier  provinces  slowly  took  on  the 
habits  of  luxurious  Rome.  Merchants  came  thither  with  the  rich 
fabrics  and  ornaments  of  the  south  and  east,  and  took  thence  amber, 
fur,  and  human  hair, — for  now  that  so  many  Germans  had  acquired 
fame  and  power  in  the  Imperial  army,  yellow  wigs  had  become  the 
Roman  fashion.  Commerce  thus  steadily  filtered  down  through  the 
northern  forests,  until  at  last  it  reached  the  Baltic  Sea. 


GROUP   OF   ANCIENT  ARMS. 


RISE  OF  THE  SARACENS  OR  ARABS. 

Mohammed. — Now  for  the  first  time  since  the  over- 
throw of  Carthage  by  Scipio  (p.  235),  a  Semitic  people 
comes  to  the  front  in  history.  Early  in  the  7th  century 
there  arose  in  Arabia  a  reformer  named  Mohammed,*  who 


*  Mohammed,  or  Mahomet,  was  bom  at  Mecca  about  570  A.  d.  Left  an  orphan  at 
an  early  age,  he  became  a  camel-driver,  and  finally  entered  the  service  of  a  rich 
widow  named  Khadijah.  She  was  so  pleased  with  his  fidelity,  that  she  offered  him 
her  hand,  although  she  was  forty  and  he  but  twenty-five  years  old.  He  was  now 
free  to  indulge  his  taste  for  meditation,  and  often  retired  to  the  desert,  spending 
whole  nights  in  revery.  At  the  age  of  forty— a  mystic  number  in  the  East— he  de- 
clared that  the  angel  Gabriel  had  appeared  to  him  in  a  vision,  commissioning  him  to 
preach  a  new  faith.  Khadijah  was  his  first  convert.  After  a  time,  he  publicly  re- 
nounced idol-worship,  and  proclaimed  himself  a  prophet.  Persecution  waxed  hot, 
and  he  was  forced  to  flee  for  his  life.  This  era  is  known  among  the  Moslems 
as  the  Hegira.  Mohammed  now  took  refuge  in  a  cave.  His  enemies  came  to  the. 
mouth,  but  seeing  a  spider's  web  across  ttie  entrance,  passed  on  in  pursuit.  The 
fugitive  secured  an  asylum  in  Medina,  where  the  new  faith  spread  rapidly,  and  Mo- 
hammed soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  an  army.  Full  of  courago  and  enthusiasm, 
he  aroused  his  followers  to  a  fanatical  devotion.    Thus,  in  the  battle  of  Muta,  Jaafer, 


632.] 


RISE     OF     THE     SARACENS 


327 


of 
A.rahia 


taught  a  new  religion.  Its  substance  was,  ''  There  is  but 
one  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  Converts  were 
made  by  force  of  arms.  '^  Paradise,"  said  Mohammed,  "  will 
be  found  in  the  shadow  of  the  crossing  of  swords."  The 
only  choice  given  the  vanquished  was  the  Koran,  tribute,  or 
death.  Before  the  close  of  his  stormy  life  (632),  the  green- 
robed  warrior-prophet  had  subdued  the  scattered  tribes  of 
Arabia,  destroyed  their  idols,  and  united  the  people  in  one 
nation. 

The  Caliphs,  or  successors  of  Mohammed,  rapidly  fol- 
lowed up  the  triumphs  of  the  new  faith.  Syria  and  Palestine 
were  conquered.  When  Jerusalem  opened  its  gates,  Omar, 
the  second  caliph,  austere  and  ascetic,  rode  thither  from 
Medina  upon  a  red-haired  camel,  carrying  a  bag  of  rice,  one 
of  dates,  and  a  leathern  bottle  of  water.     The  mosque  bear- 


when  his  right  hand  was  struck  off,  seized  the  banner  in  his  left,  and,  when  the  left 
was  severed,  he  still  embraced  the  flag  with  the  bleeding  stumps,  and  fell  only  when 
pierced  by  fifty  wound?.— Mohammed  made  known  his  doctrines  in  fragments,  which 
his  followers  wrote  upon  sheep-bones  and  palm-leaves.  His  successor,  Abou  Baker, 
collected  these  pretended  revelations  into  the  Koran— the  sacred  book  of  the  Moham- 
medans. 


f 


328  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [668. 

ing  his  name  still  stands  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Temple. 
Persia  was  subdued,  and  the  religion  of  Zoroaster  nearly 
extinguished.  Forty-six  years  after  Mohammed's  flight 
from  Mecca,  the  scimiters  of  the  Saracens  were  seen  from 
the  walls  of  Constantinople.  During  one  siege  of  seven 
years  (668-675),  and  another  of  thirteen  months,  nothing 
saved  New  Kome  but  the  torrents  of  Greek  fire*  that 
poured  from  its  battlements.  Meanwhile,  Egypt  fell,  and, 
after  the  capture  of  Alexandria,  the  flames  of  its  four  thou- 
sand baths  f  were  fed  for  six  months  with  the  priceless  man- 
uscripts from  the  library  of  the  Ptolemies.  Still  westward 
through  Northern  Africa  the  Arabs  made  their  way,  until  at 
last  their  leader  spurred  his  horse  into  the  waves  of  the 
Atlantic,  exclaiming,  "  Be  my  witness,  God  of  Mohammed, 
that  earth  is  wanting  to  my  courage,  rather  than  my  zeal  in 
thy  service  ! " 

Saracens  Invade  Europe. — In  711  the  turbaned  Mos- 
lems crossed  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar.  Spain  was  quickly 
overrun,  and  a  Moorish  J  kingdom  finally  established  that 
lasted  until  the  year  of  the  discovery  of  America  (p.  405). 
The  Mohammedan  leader  boasted  that  he  would  yet  enter 
Kome  and  preach  in  the  Vatican,  capture  Constantinople, 
and  then,  having  overthrown  the  "Roman  Empire  and  Chris- 
tianity, he  would  return  to  Damascus  and  lay  his  vic- 
torious sword  at  the  feet  of  the  caliph.  Soon  the  fearless 
riders  of  the  desert  poured  through  the  passes  of  the  Pyrenees 
and  devastated  southern  Gaul.     But  on  the  plain  of  Tours 

*  This  consisted  of  naphtha,  sulphur,  and  pitch.  It  was  often  hurled  in  red-hot, 
hollow  balls  of  iron,  or  blown  through  copper  tubes  fancifully  shaped  in  imitation  of 
savage  monsters,  that  seemed  to  vomit  forth  a  stream  of  liquid  fire. 

+  Gibbon  rejects  this  story ;  but  the  current  statement  is  that  Omar  declared,  "  If 
the  manuscripts  agree  with  the  Koran,  they  are  useless  ,  if  they  disagree,  they  should 
be  destroyed." 

X  The  Saracens  in  Spain  are  usually  called  Moors— a  term  originally  applied  to  the 
dark-colored  natives  of  northern  Africa. 


732.] 


RISE     OF     THE     SARACEKS 


329 


CHARLES   MARTEL   AT   THE    BATTLE   OF   TOURS. 


(732)  the  Saracen  host  met  the  Franks  (p.  331).  On  the 
seventh  day  of  the  struggle  the  Cross  triumphed  over  the 
Crescent,  and  Europe  was  saved.  Charles,  the  leader  of  the 
Franks,  received  henceforth  the  name  of  Martel  (the  ham- 
mer) for  the  valor  with  which  he  pounded  the  Infidels  on 
that  memorable  field.  The  Moslems  never  ventured  north- 
ward again,  and  ultimately  retired  behind  the  barriers  of  the 
Pyrenees. 

Extent  of  the  Arab  Dominion. — Exactly  a  century 
had  now  elapsed  since  the  death  of  Mohammed,  and  the 
Saracen  rule  reached  from  the  Indus  to  the  Pyrenees.  No 
empire  of  antiquity  had  such  an  extent.  Only  Greek  fire  on 
the  East  and  German  valor  on  the  West  had  prevented  the 
Moslem  power  from  girdling  the  Mediterranean. 

Saracen  Divisions. — For  a  time  this  vast  empire  held 


330  MEI)IiEVALl»KOPLES.  /        [800. 

together,  and  one  caliph  was  obeyed  alike  in  Spain  and  in 
Sinde.  But  disputes  arose  concerning  the  succession,  and 
the  empire  was  divided  between  the  Ommiades — descendants 
of  Omar — who  reigned  at  Cordova,  and  the  Ahbassides — 
descendants  of  the  prophet's  uncle — who  located  their  capital 
at  Bagdad. 

The  year  800,  when  Charlemagne  was  crowned  Emperor 
at  Rome  (p.  333),  saw  two  rival  emperors  among  the  Chris- 
tians and  two  rival  caliphs  among  the  Mohammedans.  As 
the  Germans  had  before  this  pressed  into  the  Roman  Empire, 
so  now  the  Turks  invaded  the  Arab  Empire.  The  caliph 
of  Bagdad  formed  his  body-guard  of  Turks^ — a  policy  that 
proved  as  fatal  as  enlisting  the  Goths  into  the  legions  of 
Rome,  for  the  Turks  eventually  stripped  the  caliphs  of 
their  possessions  in  Asia  and  Africa.  As  the  Teutons  took 
the  religion  of  the  Romans,  so  also  the  Turks  accepted  the 
faith  of  the  Arabs ;  and  as  the  Franks  ultimately  became 
the  valiant  supporters  of  Christianity,  so  the  Turks  became 
the  ardent  apostles  of  the  Koran. 


Saracen  Civilization. — The  furious  fanaticism  of  the  Arabs 
early  changed  into  a  love  for  the  arts  of  peace.  Omar  with  his  leathern 
bottle  and  bag  of  dates  was  followed  by  men  who  reigned  in  palaces 
decorated  with  arabesques  and  adorned  with  flower-gardens  and  foun- 
tains. The  caliphs  at  Cordova  and  Bagdad  became  rivals  in  luxury 
and  learning,  as  well  as  in  politics  and  religion.  Under  the  fostering 
care  of  Haroun  al  Raschid",  the  hero  of  the  "Arabian  Nights"  and  con- 
temporary of  Charlemagne,  Bagdad  became  the  home  of  poets  and 
scholars.  The  Moors  in  Spain  erected  structures  whose  magnificence 
and  grandeur  are  yet  attested  by  the  ruins  of  the  mosque  of  Cordova 
and  the  palace  of  the  Alhambra.  The  streets  of  the  cities  were  paved 
and  lighted.  The  houses  were  frescoed  and  carpeted,  warmed  in 
winter  by  furnaces,  and  cooled  in  summer  by  perfumed  air. 

Amid  the  ignorance  which  enveloped  Europe  during  the  Dark  Ages, 
the  Saracen  Empire  was  dotted  over  with  schools,  to  which  students 
resorted  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  There  were  colleges  in  Mongolia, 
Tartary,  Persia,  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Morocco,  Fez,  and  Spain.     The 


RISE     OF     THE     FRAKKISH     EMPIRE.  331 

vizier  of  a  sultan  consecrated  200,000  pieces  of  gold  to  found  a  college 
at  Bagdad.  A  physician  refused  to  go  to  Bokhara,  at  the  invitation 
of  the  Sultan,  on  the  plea  that  his  private  library  would  make  four 
hundred  camel-loads.  Great  public  libraries  were  collected — one  at 
Cairo  being  said  to  number  100,000  volumes,  and  the  one  of  the  Spanish 
caUphs,  600,000. 

*In  science,  the  Arabs  adopted  the  inductive  method  of  Aristotle 
(see  page  176),  and  pushed  their  experiments  into  almost  every  line 
of  study.  They  originated  chemistry,  discovering  alcohol  and  nitric 
and  sulphuric  acids.  They  understood  the  laws  of  falling  bodies,  of 
specific  gravity,  of  the  mechanical  powers,  and  the  general  principles 
of  light.  They  applied  the  pendulum  to  the  reckoning  of  time  ;  ascer- 
tained the  size  of  the  earth  by  measuring  a  degree  of  latitude  ;  made 
catalogues  of  the  stars ;  introduced  the  game  of  chess ;  employed  in 
mathematics  the  Indian  method  of  numeration ;  gave  to  algebra  and 
trigonometry  their  modern  forms  ;  brought  into  Europe  cotton  manu- 
facture ;  invented  the  printing  of  calico  with  wooden  blocks  ;  and  forged 
the  Damascus  and  Toledo  scimiters,  whose  temper  is  still  the  wonder 
of  the  world. 


RISE    OF   THE    FRANKISH    KINGDOM. 

The  Franks,  a  German  race,  laid  the  foundation  of  France 
and  Germany,  and  during  nearly  four  centuries  their  history 
is  that  of  both  these  countries.  The  conversion  to  Chris- 
tianity of  their  chieftain  Clovis  was  the  turning-point  in 
their  career.  In  the  midst  of  a  great  battle,  he  invoked  the 
God  of  Clotilda,  his  wife,  and  vowed,  if  victorious,  to  em- 
brace her  faith.  The  tide  of  disaster  turned,  and  the  grate- 
ful king,  with  three  thousand  of  his  bravest  warriors,  was 
soon  after  baptized  at  Rheims  (496).  The  whole  power  of 
the  Church  was  now  enlisted  in  his  cause,  and  he  rapidly 
pushed  his  triumphal  arms  to  the  Pyrenees.  He  fixed  his 
capital  at  Paris  and  established  the  Merovingian,  or  first 
Prankish  dynasty  (Brief  Hist.  France,  p.  13). 

The  Descendants  of  Clovis  were  at  first  wicked,  then 
weak,  until  finally  all  power  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  prime 
minister,  or  Mayor  of  the  Palace.     We  have  already  heard 


332  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [732. 

of  one  of  these  Mayors,  Charles  Martel,  on  the  field  of  Tours. 
His  son,  the  famous  Pepin  the  Short,  after  his  accession  to 
office,  wrote  to  the  Pope,  asking  whether  he  who  had  the 
authority  of  king  ought  not  to  have  the  name.  Receiving 
an  affirmative  reply,  Pepin  sent  Childeric — the  last  of  the 
"do-nothing"  monarchs — shorn  of  his  long,  yellow,  royal 
locks,  into  a  monastery,  and  was  himself  lifted  on  a  shield, 
and  declared  king.  Thus  the  Carlovingian,  or  second 
Prankish  dynasty,  was  estabhshed  (752).  At  the  request 
of  the  Pope,  then  hard  pressed  by  the  Lombards,  Pepin 
crossed  the  Alps  and  conquered  the  province  of  Ravenna, 
which  he  gave  to  the  Holy-  See.  This  donation  was  the 
origin  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope. 

With  Charlemagne  (Charles  the  Great),  Pepin's  son, 
began  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  Europe.  His  plan  was  to 
unite  the  fragments  of  the  old  Roman  Empire.  To  effect 
this,  he  used  two  powerful  sentiments — patriotism  and  re- 
ligion. Thus,  while  he  cherished  the  institutions  which 
the  Teutons  loved,  he  protected  the  Church  and  carried 
the  cross  at  the  head  of  his  army.  He  undertook  fifty- 
three  expeditions  against  twelve  different  nations.  Gauls, 
Saxons,  Danes,  Saracens  * — all  felt  the  prowess  of  his  arms. 
Entering  Italy,  he  defeated  the  Lombards,  and  placed  upon 
his  own  head  their  famous  iron  crown.  After  thirty-three 
years  of  bloody  war,  his  sceptre  was  acknowledged  from  the 
German  Ocean  to  the  Adriatic,  and  from  the  Channel  to  the 
Lower  Danube.  His  renown  reached  the  far  East,  and 
Haroun  al  Raschid  sought  his  friendship,  sending  him  an 

*  While  Charlemagne's  army,  on  its  return  from  Spain,  was  passing  through  the 
narrow  pass  of  Roncesvalles,  the  rear-guard  was  attacked  by  the  Basques,  The 
famous  Paludin,  Roland,  long  refused  to  blow  his  horn  for  aid,  but  with  his  dying 
breath  he  ^gnaled  Charlemagne,  who  returned  too  late  to  save  his  gallant  comrades. 
Centuries  have  passed  since  that  fatal  day,  but  "  the  Basque  peasant  still  sings  of 
Roland  and  Charlemagne,  and  still  the  traveler  seems  to  see  the  long  line  of  white 
turbans  and  swarthy  faces  winding  slowly  through  the  woods,  and  Arab  epear-heads 
glittering  in  the  sun." 


800.] 


KISE     OF     THE     F  R  A  IS"  K  1  S  H     EMPIRE 


333 


y  of  Umpire  of  Charlemagne 
Division  of  "  <  t 

Boundaries  of  the  Seven  Kingdomi  ^ 


MAP  OF  THE   EMPIRE   OF   CHARLEMAGNE. 


elephant  (an  animal  never  before  seen  by  the  Franks),  and  a 
clock  which  struck  the  hours. 

Charlemagne  Crowned  Emperor. — On  Christmas  day, 
800,  as  Charlemagne  was  bending  in  prayer  before  the  high 
altar  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  Pope  Leo  unexpectedly  placed 
on  his  head  the  crown  of  the  Caesars.  The  Western  Empire 
was  thus  restored;  the  old  empire  was  finally  divided;  there 
were  two  emperors — one  at  Rome,  and  one  at  Constantino- 
ple ;  and  from  this  time  the  Roman  emperors  were  "  Kings 
of  the  Franks."    They  lived  very  little  at  Rome,  however, 


334  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [768-814. 

and  spoke  German,  Latin  being  the  language  only  of  religion 
and  government. 


CHARLEMAGNE  CROWNED. 


Government. — Charlemagne  sought  to  organize  by  law 
the  various  peoples  he  had  conquered  by  the  sword.  His 
vast  empire  was  divided  into  districts  governed  by  counts. 
Eoyal  delegates  visited  each  district  four  times  a  year,  to 
redress  grievances  and  administer  justice.  Diets  took  the 
place  of  the  old  German  armed  assemblies.  A  series  of 
capitularies  was  issued,  containing  the  laws  and  tlie  advice 
of  the  Emperor.  But  the  work  of  Charlemagne's  life  per- 
ished with  him. 

A  Division  of  the  Frankish  Empire.— His  feeble  son 
Louis  quickly  dissipated  this  vast  inheritance  among  his 
children.  They  quarreled  over  their  respective  shares,  and, 
after  Louis's  death,  fought  out  their  dispute  on  the  field  of 
Fontenay.    This  dreadful  "  Battle  of  the  Brothers  "  was  fol- 


843.J 


RISE     OF     THE     FRAKKISH     EMPIRE. 


335 


lowed  by  the  Treaty  of  Verdun  (843),  which  divided  the 
empire  among  them. 

Beginnings  of  France  and  Germany.— Lothaire's 
kingdom  was  called  after  him  Lotharingia,  and  a  part  of  it 
is  still  known  as  Lorraine.  Louis's  kingdom  was  termed 
East  Frankland,  but  the  word  Deutsch  (German)  soon 
came  into  use,  and  Germany  in  1843  celebrated  its  1000th 
anniversary,  dating  from  the  treaty  of  Verdun.  Charles's 
kingdom  was  styled  West  Frankland  (Lat.  Francia,  whence 
the  word  France) ;  its  monarch  still  clung  to  his  Teutonic 
dress  and  manners,  but  the  separation  from  Germany  was 
fairly  accomplished ;  the  two  countries  spoke  different  lan- 
guages, and  Charles  the  Bald  is  ranked  as  the  first  king 
of  France. 

Thus,  during  the  9th  century,  the  map  of  Europe  began 
to  take  on  something  of  its  present  appearance,  and,  for  the 
first  time,  we  may  venture  to  use  the  geographical  divisions 
now  familiar  to  us,  though  they  were  still  far  from  having 
their  present  meaning. 

Charlemagne  and 
his  Court. — In  person, 
dress,  speech,  and  tone  of 
mind,  Charlemagne  was  a 
.true  German.  Large,  erect, 
muscular,  with  a  clear  eye 
and  dignified  but  gracious 
manner,  his  shrill  voice  and 
short  neck  were  forgotten 
in  the  general  grandeur  of 
hi*  presence.  Keen  to  de- 
tect, apt  to  understand,  pro- 
found to  grasp,  and  quick 
to  decide,  he  impressed  all 
who  knew  him  witli  a  sense 
of  his  power.  Like  his  rude 
ancestors  of  centuries  he- 
fore,  he  was  hardy  in  his 


CHARLEMAGNE. 


336  MEDIiEYAL     PEOPLES. 

habits  and  unconcerned  about  his  dress ;  but,  unlike  them,  he  was  strictly 
temperate  in  food  and  drink.  Drunkenness  he  abhorred.  In  the 
industrial  schools  which  he  established,  his  own  daughters  were  taught 
to  work,  and  the  garments  he  commonly  wore  were  woven  by  their 
hands.  He  discouraged  useless  extravagance  in  his  courtiers,  and  once 
when  hunting — he  in  his  simple  Prankish  dress  and  sheepskin  cloak, 
they  in  silk  and  tinsel-embroidered  robes — he  led  them  through  mire 
and  brambles  in  the  midst  of  a  furious  storm  of  wind  and  sleet,  and 
afterward  obliged  them  to  dine  in  their  torn  and  bedraggled  fineries. 
Twice  in  his  life  he  wore  a  foreign  dress,  and  that  was  at  Rome,  where 
he  assumed  a  robe  of  purple  and  gold,  encircled  his  brow  with  jewels 
and  decorated  even  his  sandals  with  precious  stones.  His  greatest 
pride  was  in  his  sword,  Joyeuse,  the  handle  of  which  bore  his  signet, 
and  he  was  wont  to  say,  "  With  my  sword  I  maintain  all  to  which  I 
aflBx  my  seal."  Generous  to  his  friends,  indulgent  to  his  children,  and 
usually  placable  to  his  enemies,  his  only  acts  of  cruelty  were  perpe- 
trated on  the  Saxons,  who,  true  to  the  Teutonic  passion  for  independ- 
ence, for  thirty-three  years  fought  and  struggled  against  him.  Even 
when  by  his  orders  forty-five  hundred  were  beheaded  in  one  day,  these 
doughty  warriors  continued  to  rebel  till  hopelessly  subdued. 

The  Imperial  Palaces  were  magnificent,  and  the  one  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  was  so  luxurious  that  people  called  it  "Little  Rome."  It 
contained  extensive  halls,  galleries,  and  baths  for  swimming — an  art 
in  which  Charlemagne  excelled,  mosaic  pavements  and  porphyry 
pillars  from  Ravenna,  and  a  college,  library,  and  theatre.  There  were 
gold  and  silver  tables,  sculptured  drinking-cups,  and  elaborately  carved 
wainscoting,  while  the  courtiers,  dressed  in  gay  and  richly-wrought 
robes,  added  to  the  sumptuousness  of  the  surroundings.  This  brilliant 
emperor  gave  personal  attention  to  his  diflferent  estates  ;  he  prescribed 
what  trees  and  flowers  should  grow  in  his  gardens,  what  meat .  and 
vegetables  should  be  kept  in  store,  and  ^ven  how  the  stock  and  poultry 
should  be  fed  and  housed. 

The  College  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  presided  over  by  Alcuin,  an 
Anglo-Saxon  monk  whom  Charlemagne  had  invited  to  his  court — for 
he  surrounded  himself  with  scholars  rather  than  warriors.  With  his 
learned  favorites  and  royal  household  the  Great  King  devoted  himself 
to  science,  belles-letters,  music,  and  the  languages,  and  became,  next  to 
Alcuin,  the  best-educated  man  of  the  age.  It  was  an  arousing  "of 
literature  from  a  sleep  of  centuries,  and  while  Alcuin  explained  the 
theories  of  Pythagoras,  Aristotle,  and  Plato,  or  quoted  Homer,  Virgil, 
and  Pliny,  the  delighted  listeners  were  fired  with  a  passion  for  learning. 
In  their  enthusiasm  they  took  the  names  of  their  classical  favorites, 
and  Homer,  Pindar,  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Calliope,  sat  down  together 
in  the    Frankish    court,   the  king    himself  appearing  as  the   royal 


RISE    OF    MODERN^    l^"  A  T  I  0  N  S — ENGLAND.      337 

Hebrew,  David.  Besides  this  court  school,  Charlemagne  organized  at 
Paris  the  first  European  university,  established  academies  throughout 
the  Empire,  and  required  that  every  monastery  which  he  founded  or 
endowed  should  support  a  school.  He  encouraged  the  copying  of 
ancient  manuscripts  and  corrected  the  text  of  the  Greek  gospels.  Like 
Pliny,  he  had  books  read  to  him  at  meals — St.  Augustine  being  his 
favorite  author — and,  like  Pisistratus,  he  collected  the  scattered  frag- 
ments of  the  ancient  national  poetry.  He  even  began  a  German  gram- 
mar, an  experiment  which  was  not  repeated  for  hundreds  of  years. 
Yet,  though  he  mastered  Latin,  read  Greek  and  some  oriental  lan- 
guages, delighted  in  astronomy,  attempted  poetry,  and  was  learned  in 
rhetoric  and  logic,  this  great  king  stumbled  on  the  simple  ai-t  of  writ- 
ing ;  and  though  he  kept  his  tablets  under  his  pillow  that  he  might 
press  every  waking  moment  into  service,  the  hand  that  could  so  easily 
wield  the  ponderous  iron  lance  was  conquered  by  the  pen. 

Wonderful  indeed  was  the  electricity  of  this  powerful  nature,  the 
like  of  which  had  not  been  seen  since  the  day  of  Julius  Caesar  and  was 
not  to  reappear  until  the  day  of  Charles  V.  But  no  one  man  can  make 
a  civilization.  " In  vain,"  says  Duruy,  "did  Charlemagne  kindle  the 
flame  ;  it  was  only  a  passing  torch  in  the  midst  of  a  profound  night. 
In  vain  did  he  strive  to  create  commerce  and  trace  with  his  own  hand 
the  plan  of  a  canal  to  connect  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine  ;  the  ages  of 
commerce  and  industry  were  yet  far  distant.  In  vain  did  he  unite 
Germany  into  one  vast  empire  ;  even  while  he  lived  he  felt  it  breaking 
in  his  hands.  And  this  vast  and  wise  organism,  this  revived  civiliza- 
tion, all  disappeared  with  him  who  called  it  forth." 


RISE     OF     MODERN    NATIONS. 

We  will  next  sketch  the  early  political  history  of  the  prin- 
cipal European  nations,  and  see  how,  amid  the  darkness  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  the  foundations  of  the  modern  states  were 
slowly  laid. 

I.    ENGLAND. 

The  Four  Conquests  of  England.— (1.)  Roman  Con- 
quest.— About  a  century  after  Caesar's  invasion,  Agricola 
reduced  Britain  to  a  Roman  province  (see  p.  249).  Walls 
were  built  to  keep  back  the  Highland  Celts;  paved 
roads  were  constructed ;  fortified  towns  sprang  up  in  the 


338 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


[410. 


0 


THE  FOUR  CONQUESTS  OF  ENGLAND. 


track  of  the  legions  ;  and  the  young  natives  learned  to  talk 
Latin,  wear  the  toga,, and  frequent  the  bath. 

(2.)  Anglo-Saxon  Conquest. — While  Alaric  was  thunder- 
ing at  the  gates  of  Rome  (p.  267),  the  veteran  legions  were 
recalled  to  Italy.  The  wild  Celts  of  the  north  now  swarmed 
over  the  deserted  walls,  and  ravaged  the  country.  The 
Britons,  in  their  extremity,  appealed  to  Horsa  and  Hen- 
gist,  two  German  adventurers  then  cruising  off  their  coast. 
These  drove  back  the  Celts,  rewarding  themselves  by  seizing 
the  land  they  had  delivered.  Fresh  bauds  of  Teutons — 
chiefly  Angles  (English)  and  Saxons — followed,  driving  the 
remaining  Britons  into  "Wales.     The  petty  pagan  kingdoms 


827.]     lilSE    OF    MODERN     NATIONS  —  ENGLAND.    339 

wbich  the  Germans  established  (known  as  the  Saxon  Hep- 
tarchy) were  continually  at  war,  but  Christianity  was  intro- 
duced by  St.  Augustine,*  and  they  were  finally  united  in 
one  nation  (827)  by  King  Egbert,  a  contemporary  and  friend 
of  Charlemagne. 

(3.)  Danish  Conquest. — During  the  9th  century,  England, 
like  France  (p.  354)  and  Germany,  was  ravaged  by  hordes  of 
northern  pirates.  In  their  light  boats  they  ascended  the 
rivei's  and,  landing,  seized  horses  and  scoured  the  country,  to 
plunder  and  slay.  Mercy  seemed  to  them  a  crime,  and  they 
destroyed  all  they  could  not  remove.  The  Danish  invaders 
were  finally  beaten  back  by  Egbert's  grandson,!  Alfred  the 
Great  (871-901),  and  order  was  restored  so  that,  according 
to  the  old  chroniclers,  a  bracelet  of  gold  could  be  left  hang- 
ing by  the  roadside  without  any  one  daring  to  touch  it. 
A  century  later,  the  Northmen  came  in  greater  numbers, 
bent  on  conquering  the  country,  and  the  Danish  king 
Canute  (Knut)  J  won  the  English  crown  (1017). 

(4.)  Norman  Conquest. — The  English  soon  tired  of  the 
reckless  rule  of  Canute's  sons,  and  called  to  the  throne 
Edward  the   Confessor   (1042),  who   belonged  to   the  old 


*  Gregory,  when  a  deacon,  was  once  attracted  by  the  beauty  of  some  light-haired 
boys  in  the  Roman  slave-market.  Being  told  that  they  were  Angles,  he  replied, 
"Not  Angles,  but  angels."  When  he  became  Pope,  he  remembered  the  fair  cap- 
tives, and  sent  a  band  of  monks  under  St.  Augustine,  as  missionaries  to  England. 
They  landed  on  the  same  spot  where  Hengist  had  nearly  150  years  before. 

t  The  early  chronicles  abound  in  romantic  stories  of  this  "best  of  England's 
kings."  While  a  fugitive  from  the  Danes,  he  took  refuge  in  the  hut  of  a  swineherd. 
One  day  the  housewife  had  him  turn  some  cakes  that  were  baking  upon  the  hearth. 
Absorbed  in  thought  the  young  king  forgot  his  task.  When  the  good  woman 
returned,  finding  the  cakes  l)umed,  she  roundly  scolded  him  for  his  carelessness. 

X  Many  beautiful  legends  illustrate  the  character  of  this  wonderful  man.  One 
day  his  courtiers  told  him  that  his  power  was  so  great  that  even  the  sea  obeyed  him. 
To  rebuke  this  foolish  flattery,  the  king  seated  himself  by  the  shore,  and  ordered  the 
waves  to  retire.  But  the  tide  rose  higher  and  higher,  until,  finally,  the  surf  dashed 
over  his  person.  Turning  to  his  flatterers,  he  said,  "  Ye  see  now  how  weak  is  the 
power  of  kings  and  of  all  men.  Honor  then  God  only  and  serve  Him.  for  Him  do  all 
things  obey."  On  going  back  to  Wincliester,  he  hung  his  crown  over  the  crucifix 
on  the  high  altar,  and  never  wore  it  again. 


340 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


[1066. 


Saxon  line.  On  his  death,  Harold  was  chosen  king.  But 
William,  duke  of  Normandy  (p.  356),  claimed  that  Edward 
had  promised  him  the  succession,  and  his  cousin,  Harold, 
had  ratified  the  pledge.  A  powerful  Norman  army  accord- 
ingly invaded  England.  Harold  was  slain  in  the  battle  of 
Hastings,  and  on  Christmas  day,  1066,  William  was  crowned 
in  Westminster  Abbey  as  king  of  England. 


The  following  table  contains  the  names  of  the  English  kings  from 
the  time  of  the  conquest  to  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  limits  of 
this  history  forbid  a  description  of  their  separate  reigns,  and  permit 
only  a  consideration  of  the  events  that,  during  this  period  of  four  cen- 
turies, were  conspicuous  in  the  "Making  of  England." 


i  ■ 


§1 


William  the  Conqueror  (1066-'87). 


WnjJAM  Kupus  (1087-1100). 


Henry  Beauclerc. 
(1100 -'35). 


Adela,  m. 

of  Blois. 

I 
Stephen  (1135-'54). 


Matilda,  m.  Geoffrey 
Plantagenbt,  of  Anjou. 


Henry  H.  (1154-'89). 


Richard  Cceitr  de  Lion  (1189-'99). 


John  (1199-1216). 
Henry  III.  (121fr-'72). 
Edward  I.  (1272-1307). 
Edward  H.  (1307-'27). 
Edward  HI.  (1327-'77). 


Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence. 
(Third  son  of  Edward  IH.). 


Henry  IV.  (1399-1413). 
Henry  V.  (1413-'22). 
Henry  VL  (1422-'61). 


Edward  the  Black  Prince. 
Richard  n.  (1377-'90). 


Edward  IV.  (1461 
Edward  V. 


Descendant  of  Lionel,  third  son  of  Edward  III. 
With  his  brother  Richard  murdered  in  the  Tower. 
Richard  HI.  (1483-'5).    Youngest  brother  of  Edward  IV.    Fell  at  Bosworth. 


RISE    OF    MODERi^^    NATIONS — ENGLAND.    341 


Results  of  the  Norman  Conquest — William  took  ad- 
vantage of  repeated  revolts  of  the  English  to  conquer  the 
nation  thoroughly,  to  establish  the  Feudal  system*  in  Eng- 
land, and  to  confiscate  most  of  the  large  domains  and  confer 

them  upon  his  follow- 
ers. Soon  every  office 
in  church  and  state 
was  filled  by  the  Nor- 
mans. Castles  were 
erected,  where  the  new 
nobles  lived  and  lorded 
it  over  their  poor  Saxon 
dependants.  Crowds 
of  Norman  workmen 
and  traders  flocked 
across  the  channel. 
Thus  there  were  two 
peoples  living  in  Eng- 
land, side  by  side. 
But  the  Normans  were 
kinsfolk  of  the  English, 
being  Teutons  with 
only  a  French  veneer, 
and  the  work  of  union  began  speedily.  Henry  I.,  the 
Conqueror's  son,  married  the  niece  of  Edgar  Atheling — 
the  last  of  the  Saxon  princes  ;  while,  from  the  reign  of 
Henry  H.,  ties  of  kindred  and  trade  fast  made  Normans 
and  Englishmen  undistinguishable.  Finally,  in  Edward  I., 
England  got  a  king  who  was  English  at  heart. 

At  first  there  were  two  languages  spoken — the  Norman 
being  the  fashionable  tongue,  and  the  Saxon  the  common 

*  The  pupil  should  here  carefully  read  the  sections  on  Feudalism,  etc., p. 408, 
in  order  to  understand  the  various  feudal  terms  used  in  the  text. 


WILLIAM  THE  CONQUEROR. 


342  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 

speech ;  but  slowly,  as  the  two  peoples  combined,  the  two 
languages  coalesced. 

From  time  to  time,  many  of  the  English  took  to  the  woods 
and  lived  as  outlaws,  like  the  famous  Robin  Hood  in  the 
days  of  Eichard  I.  But  the  sturdy  Saxon  independence  and 
the  Norman  skill  and  learning  gradually  blended,  giving  to 
the  English  race  new  life  and  enterprise,  a  firmer  government, 
more  systematic  laws,  and  more  permanent  institutions. 

The  Saxon  weapon  was  the  battle-axe ;  the  Norman  gen- 
tleman fought  on  horseback  with  the  spear,  and  the  footman 
with  bow  and  arrow.  Less  than  three  centuries  found  the 
English  yeoman  on  the  field  of  Crecy(p.  361),  under  Edward 
III.  and  the  Black  Prince,  overwhelming  the  French  with 
shafts  from  their  long-bows,  and  the  English  knight  armed 
cap-a-pie,  with  helmet  on  head  and  lance  in  hand. 

William,  though  king  of  England,  still  held  Normandy, 
and  hence  remained  a  vassal  of  the  king  of  France.  This 
complication  of  English  and  French  interests  became  a 
fruitful  source  of  strife.  The  successors  of  Hugh  Capet 
(p.  356)  were  forced  to  fight  a  vassal  more  powerful  than 
themselves,  while  the  English  sovereigns  sought  to  dismember 
and  finally  to  conquer  France.  Long  and  bloody  wars  were 
waged.  Nearly  five  centuries  elapsed  before  the  English 
monarchs  gave  up  their  last  stronghold  in  that  country,  and 
were  content  to  be  merely  British  kings. 

Growth  of  Constitutional  Liberty.— 1.  Runnymede  and 
Magna  Cliarta. — William  the  Conqueror  easily  curbed  the 
powerful  English  vassals  whom  he  created.  But,  during 
the  disturbances  of  succeeding  reigns,  the  barons  acquired 
great  power,  and  their  castles  becamo  mere  robbers'  nests, 
whence  they  plundered  the  common  people  without  mercy. 
The  masses  now  sided  with  the  crown  for  protection. 
Henry  II.  established  order,  reformed  the  law  courts,  organ- 


1315.]     RISE    OF   MODERl^    KAtlONS  —  ENGLAKD.  343 

ized  an  army,  destroyed  many  of  the  castles  of  the  tyraDnical 
nobles,  and  created  new  barons,  who,  being  English,  were 
ready  to  make  common  cause  with  the  nation.  Unfortu- 
nately, Henry  alienated  the  affections  of  his  people  by  his 
long  quarrel  with  Thomas  a  Becket,  who,  as  a  loyal  English 
priest,  stood  up  for  the  rightj  of  the  church— tlirough  the 
Middle  Ages  the  refuge  of  the  masses — and  opposed  to  the 
death  the  increasing  power  of  the  Norman  king.  Henry's 
son,  John,  brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  by  his  brutality  and 
exactions.  He  imposed  taxes  at  pleasure,  wronged  the  poor, 
and  plundered  the  rich.*  At  last,  the  patience  of  peasant 
and  noble  alike  was  exhausted,  and  the  whole  nation  rose  up 
in  insurrection.  The  barons  marched  with  their  forces 
against  the  king,  and  at  Runnymede  (1215)  compelled  him 
to  grant  the  famous  Great  Charter. 

Henceforth  the  king  had  no  right  to  demand  money  when 
he  pleased,  nor  to  imprison  and  punish  whom  he  pleased. 
He  was  to  take  money  only  when  the  barons  granted  the 
privilege  for  pubhc  purposes,  and  no  freeman  was  to  be  pun- 
ished except  when  his  countrymen  judged  him  guilty  of 
crime.  The  courts  were  to  be  open  to  all,  and  Justice  was 
not  to  be  ''  sold,  refused  or  delayed. ''  The  serf,  or  villein, 
was  to  have  his  plougli  free  from  seizure.  The  church  was 
secured  against  the  interference  of  the  king.  No  class  was 
neglected,  but  each  obtained  some  cherished  right. 

Magna  Charta  ever  since  has  been  the  foundation  of  Eng- 
lish liberty,  and,  as  the  kings  were  always  trying  to  break  it, 
they  have  been  compelled,  during  succeeding  reigns,  to  con- 
firm its  provisions  thirty-six  times. 

2.  House  of  Commons. — Henry  III.,  foolishly  fond  of  for- 
eign favorites,  yielded  to  their  advice  and  lavished  upon 

*  At  one  time,  it  is  said,  he  threw  into  prison  a  wealthy  Jew,  who  refused  to  give 
him  an  enormous  sum  of  money,  and  pulled  out  a  tooth  every  day  until  he  paid  the 
required  amount 


344  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [13tH  CENT. 

them  large  sums  of  money.  Once  more  the  barons  rose  in 
arms  and,  under  the  lead  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of 
Leicester — a  Frenchman  by  birth  but  an  Englishman  in 
feeling — defeated  the  king  at  Leiues.  Earl  Simon  thereupon 
called  together  the  Parliament,  summoning,  besides  the 
barons,  two  knights  from  each  county,  and  two  citizens 
from  each  city  or  borough,  to  represent  the  freeholders 
(1265).  Erom  this  beginning,  the  English  Parliament  soon 
took  on  the  form  it  has  since  retained,  of  two  assemblies— 
the  House  of  Lords  and  the  House  of  Commons.  By  de- 
grees it  was  established  that  the  Commons  should  have  the 
right  of  petition  for  redress  of  grievances,  and  sole  power  of 
voting  taxes. 

The  13th  century  is  thus  memorable  in  English  History  for 
the  granting  of  Magna  Qharta  and  the  forming  of  the 
House  of  Commons. 

Conquest  of  Ireland  begun. — Henry  IL,  having  ob- 
tained permission  from  the  Pope  to  invade  Ireland,  author- 
ized an  army  of  adventurers  to  overrun  that  island.  In 
1171  he  visited  Ireland,  and  his  sovereignty  was  generally 
acknowledged.  Henceforth  the  country  was  under  English 
rule,  but  it  remained  in  disorder,  the  battle-ground  of  Irish 
chiefs,  and  Norman-descended  lords  who  became  as  savage 
and  lawless  as  those  whom  they  had  conquered. 

Conquest  of  Wales  (1283). — The  Celts  had  long  pre- 
served their  liberty  among  the  mountains  of  Wales  and 
Scotland.  Edward  I.'s  ambition  was  to  rule  over  the  whole 
of  the  island.  When  Llewellyn,  the  Welsh  chieftain,  refused 
to  yield  him  the  usual  homage,  he  invaded  the  country  and 
annexed  it  to  England.  To  propitiate  the  Welsh,  he  prom- 
ised them  a  native-born  king  who  could  not  speak  a  word  of 
English,  and  thereupon  presented  them  his  son,  born  a  few 
days  before  in  the  Welsh  castle  of  Caernarvon.     The  young 


1283.]     RISE    OP    MODERK    NATIOKS  —  EKGLAKD.   345 

Edward  was  afterward  styled  the  Prince  of  Wales — a  title 
since  borne  by  the  sovereign's  oldest  son. 

Conquest  of  Scotland. — Edward  I.,  having  been  chQsen 
umpire  between  two  claimants  for  the  Scottish  throne — 
Robert  Bruce  and  John  Baliol,  decided  in  favor  of  the 
latter^  on  condition  of  his  doing  homage  to  the  English 
monarch  as  his  feudal  lord.  The  Scots,  impatient  of  their 
vassalage,  revolted,  whereupon  Edward  took  possession  of 
the  country  as  a  forfeited  lief  (1296).  Again  the  Scots  rose 
under  the  patriot  William  Wallace,  but  he  was  defeated, 
taken  to  London  and  hanged.  They  next  found  a  leader  in 
Robert  Bruce.  Edward  marched  against  him,  but  died  in 
sight  of  Scotland.  The  English  soldiers,  however,  harried 
the  land,  and  drove  Bruce  from  one  hiding-place  to  another. 
Almost  in  despair,  the  patriot  lay  one  day  sleepless  on  his 
bed,  where  he  watched  a  spider  jumping  to  attach  its  thread 
to  a  wall.  Six  times  it  failed,  but  succeeded  on  the  seventh. 
Bruce,  encouraged  by  this  simple  incident,  resolved  to  try 
again.  Success  came.  Castle  after  castle  fell  into  his  hands, 
until  only  Stirling  remained.  Edward  II.,  going  to  its 
relief,  met  Bruce  at  Bannockhurn  (1314).  The  Scottish 
army  was  defended  by  pits,  having  sharp  stakes  at  the  bot- 
tom, and  covered  at  the  top  with  sticks  and  turf.  The 
English  knights,  galloping  to  the  attack,  plunged  into  these 
hidden  holes.  In  the  midst  of  the  confusion,  a  body  of  sut- 
lers appeared  on  a  distant  hill,  and  the  dispirited  English, 
mistaking  them  for  a  new  army,  fled  in  dismay. 

Scottish  Independence  was  acknowledged  (1328).*     After 

*  It  is  noticeable  that  there  existed  a  constant  alliance  of  Scotland  and  France. 
Whenever,  during  the  14th  and  15th  centuries,  war  broke  out  between  France  and 
England,  the  Scots  made  a  diversion  by  attacking  England,  and  their  soldiers  often 
took  service  in  the  French  armies  on  the  continent.  So,  if  we  learn  that,  at  any 
time  during  this  long  period,  France  and  England  were  fighting,  it  is  pretty  safe  to 
conclude  that,  along  the  borders  of  England  aud  Scotland,  there  were  plundering-raids 
and  skirmishes. 


346  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [Uth  CENf . 

this,  many  wars  arose  between  Scotland  and  England,  but 
Scotland  was  never  in  danger  of  being  conquered. 

TJie  Hundred-Years  War  with  France  was  the  event 
of  the  14th  and  the  first  half  of  the  15th  century  (p.  360). 

Wars  of  the  Roses  (1455-85).— About  the  middle  of 
the  15th  century  a  struggle  concerning  the  succession  to  the 
English  throne  arose  between  the  Houses  of  York  and  Lan- 
caster, the  former  being  descended  from  the  third,  and  the 
latter  from  the  fourth  son  of  Edward  III.  (p.  340).  A  Civil 
War  ensued,  known  as  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  since  the 
adherents  of  the  House  of  York  wore,  as  a  badge,  a  white 
rose,  and  those  of  Lancaster,  a  red  one.  The  contest 
lasted  thirty  years  and  twelve  pitched  battles  were  fought. 
During  this  war  the  House  of  York  seated  three  kings  upon 
the  throne.  But  the  last  of  these,  Richard  III.,  a  brutal 
tyrant  whom  prose  and  poetry*  have  combined  to  condemn," 
was  slain  on  the  field  of  Bosioorth,  and  the  red  rose  placed 
the  crown  on  the  head  of  its  representative,  Henry  VII. 
Thus  ended  the  Plantagenet  Line,  which  had  ruled  England 
for  three  centuries ;  the  new  house  was  called  the  Tudor 
Line,  from  Henry's  family  name. 

The  result  of  this  Civil  War  was  the  triumph  of  the 
kingly  power  over  that  of  the  aristocracy.  It  was  a  war  of 
the  nobles  and  their  military  retainers.  Except  iu  the 
immediate  march  of  the  armies,  the  masses  pursued  their 
industries  as  usual.  Men  plowed  and  sowed,  bought  and 
sold,  as  though  it  were  a  time  of  peace.  Both  sides  pro- 
tected the  neutral  citizens,  but  were  bent  on  exterminating 
each  other.  No  quarter  was  asked  or  given,  f  During  the 
war,  eighty  princes  of  the  blood  and  two  hundred  nobles 


*  Bead  Shakspere's  play,  Richard  III. 

t  When  Edward  IV.  galloped  over  the  field  of  battle  after  a  victory,-  he  would 
Bhout,  "  Spare  the  soldiers,  but  slay  the  gentlemen." 


1485.]      RISE    OF    MODERIT    NATIONS  —  ENGLAND.    347 

fell  by  the  sword,  and  half  the  families  of  distinction  were 
destroyed.  The  method  of  holding  land  was  changed,  and, 
for  the  former  relation  of  lord  and  vassal,  was  substituted 
that  of  landlord  and  tenant.  The  power  of  the  great 
barons  gone,  the  king  had  little  check,  and  the  succeeding 
monarchs  ruled  with  an  authority  never  before  dreamed  of 
in  English  history.  Constitutional  liberty,  which  had  been 
steadily  growing  since  the  day  of  Eunnymede,  now  gave 
place  to  Tudor  despotism.  The  field  of  Bosworth,  moreover, 
marked  the  downfall  of  Feudalism ;  with  its  disappearance 
the  Middle  Ages  came  to  an  end. 


EARLY    ENGLISH     CIVILIZATION. 

The  Anglo-Saxons, — The  German  invaders  took  with  them  to 
England  their  old-time  traits  and  customs,  in  which  traces  of  their 
former  paganism  lingered  long  after  Christianity  was  formally  adopted. 
Coming  in  separate  bands,  each  fighting  and  conquering  for  itself,  the 
most  successful  chieftains  founded  kingdoms.  The  royal  power  gradu- 
ally increased,  though  always  subject  to  the  decisions  of  the  Witan, 
which  was  composed  of  the  earls,  the  prelates,  and  the  leading  thanes 
and  clergy.  The  Witenagemot  (Assembly  of  Wise  Men),  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  ancient  German  Assembly,  was  held  at  the  great  Christmas, 
Easter,  and  Whitsuntide  festivals.  This  body  not  only  elected  but 
could  depose  the  king,  who  was  chosen  from  the  royal  family  * 

The  earls  or  dukes  represented  the  old  German  nobility  ;  below  them 
were  the  thanes  or  gentry,  attached  to  the  king  and  nobles ;  and  the 
ceorls  or  yeomen,  freemen  in  name,  but  often  semi-servile  in  obliga- 
tions. Lowest  of  all,  and  not  even  counted  in  the  population,  was  a 
host  of  thralls,  hapless  slaves  who  lay  at  their  master's  mercy  and  were 
sold  with  the  land  and  cattle— one  slave  equalling  four  oxen  in  value. 
A  ceorl  who  had  acquired  "  fully  five  hides  f  of  land,  church  and  kitchen, 
bell-house  and  burh-gate-seat,  and  special  duty  in  the  king's  hall,'*  or  a 

*  Every  tribe  had  its  royal  family  supposed  to  be  descended  from  Woden.  The 
house  of  Cerdic,  the  fouiider  of  the  West-Saxon  dynasty,  survived  the  others,  and  to 
him  is  traced  the  pedigree  of  Queen  Victoria. 

t  The  dimensions  of  a  hide  are  not  known.  Some  think  it  was  aboat  thirty  acres. 
The  burh  was  the  home-yard  and  buildings,  entered  through  a  gate  in  the  earth- wall 
enclosure. 


348  m:^di^val    peoples. 

merchant  who  had  thrice  crossed  the  seas  on  his  own  account,  might 
become  a  thane  ;  and  in  certain  cases  a  slave  might  earn  his  freedom. 

Shires,  Hundreds,  and  Tithings.— Ten  Anglo-Saxon  families 
made  a  tithing,  and  by  a  system  of  mutual  police  or  frank-pledge,  each 
one  became  bail  for  the  good  conduct  of  the  other  nine.  Ten  tithings 
made  a  hundred,  names  which  soon  came  to  stand  for  the  soil  on  which 
they  lived.  The  land  conferred  in  individual  estates  was  called  hoMand 
(book-land) ;  that  reserved  for  the  public  use  waa  folkland. 

The  weregeld  (life-money)  and  wihtgeld  (crime-money)  continued  in 
force  and  covered  nearly  every  possible  crime,  from  the  murder  of  a 
king  to  a  bruise  on  a  comrade's  finger-nail.  As  part  of  the  crime-money 
went  to  the  crown,  it  was  a  goodly  source  of  royal  income.  The  amount 
due  increased  with  the  rank  of  the  injured  party  ;  thus,  the  weregeld 
of  the  West-Saxon  king  was  six  times  that  of  the  thane,  and  the  thane's 
was  four  times  that  of  the  ceorl.  The  weregeld  also  settled  the  value 
of  an  oath  in  the  law-courts  :  "  A  thane  could  outswear  half-a-dozen 
ceorls  ;  an  earl  could  outswear  a  whole  township."  The  word  of  the 
king  was  ordered  to  be  taken  without  an  oath.  Some  crimes,  such  as 
premeditated  murder  or  perjury  after  theft,  were  inexpiable. 

The  Ordeals  were  used  in  cases  of  doubtful  guilt.  Sometimes 
a  cauldron  of  boiling  water  or  a  red-hot  iron  wus  brought  before  the 
court.  The  man  of  general  good  character  was  made  to  plunge  his 
hand  in  the  water  or  to  carry  the  iron  nine  paces,  but  he  of  ill-repute 
immersed  his  arm  to  the  elbow  and  was  given  an  iron  of  treble  weight. 
After  three  days  he  was  declared  guilty  or  innocent,  according  to  the 
signs  of  perfect  healing.  Sometimes  the  accused  was  made  to  walk 
blindfolded  and  barefooted  over  red-hot  ploughshares ;  and  sometimes  he 
was  bound  hand  and  foot  and  thrown  into  a  pond,  to  establish  his  inno- 
cence or  guilt  according  as  he  sank  or  floated.  Ordeals  were  formally 
abolished  by  the  Church  in  the  13th  century. 

The  Duel,  in  which  the  disputants  or  their  champions  fought, 
was  transplanted  from  Normandy  about  the  time  of  the  Conquest ;  and 
the  Grand  Assize,  the  first  establishment  in  regular  legal  form  of  trial 
by  jury,  was  introduced  by  Henry  II. 

Commerce  was  governed  by  strict  protective  laws,  and  every  pur- 
chase, even  of  food,  had  to  be  made  before  witnesses.  If  a  man  went 
to  a  distance  to  buy  any  article,  he  must  first  declare  his  intention  to 
his  neighbors  ;  if  he  chanced  to  buy  while  absent,  he  must  publish  the 
fact  on  his  return.  Nothing  could  be  legally  bought  or  sold  for  three 
miles  outside  a  city's  walls,  and  the  holder  of  wares  whose  purchase  in 
open  market  could  not  be  proved,  not  only  forfeited  the  goods,  but  was 
obliged  to  establish  his  character  for  honesty  before  the  legal  inspector 
of  sales.  Judging  from  the  laws,  theft  and  smuggling,  though  punished 
with  great  severity,  were  prevalent  crimes. 


RISE    OF    MODEEX    NATIONS  —  ENGLAND.     349 

Solitary  travelers  were  regarded  with  suspicion,  and  an  early  law 
declared  that  "if  a  man  come  from  afar  or  a  stranger  go  out  of  the 
highway,  and  he  then  neither  shout  nor  blow  a  horn,  he  is  to  be  ac- 
counted a  thief,  either  to  be  slain  or  to  be  redeemed." 


THE  SCRIPTORIUM   OF  A  MONASTERY. — A   MONK   ILLUMINATING  A  MANUSCRIPT. 


Literature  and  the  Arts  flourished  only  in  convents,  where 
the  patient  monks  wrought  in  gold,  silver  and  jewels,  and  produced 
exquisitely  illuminated  manuscripts.  The  name  of  ' '  The  Venerable 
Becle"  (673-735),  the  most  distinguished  of  Anglo-Saxon  writers,  is 
familiar  to  all  readers  of  English  history,  and  we  recognize  Alcuin 
(735-804)  as  the  preceptor  of  Charlemagne.  Alfred  the  Great,  whom 
popular  tradition  invested  with  nearly  every  virtue,  was  a  tireless 
student  and  writer. 

Truthfulness,  Respect  for  Woman,  and  Hospitality- 
were  the  old  wholesome  German  traits.  The  doors  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
hall  were  closed  to  none — known  or  unknown — who  appeared  worthy 
of  entrance.  The  stranger  was  welcomed  with  the  customary  offer  of 
water  to  wash  his  hands  and  feet,  after  which  he  gave  up  his  arms  and 
took  his  place  at  the  family  board.  For  two  nights  no  questions  were 
asked  ;  after  that  his  host  was  responsible  for  his  character.  In  later 
times,  a  strange-comer  who  was  neither  armed  nor  rich  nor  a  clerk  was 
obliged  to  enter  and  leave  his  host's  house  by  daylight,  nor  was  he 
allowed  to  remain  out  of  his  own  tithing  more  than  one  night  at  a  time. 


350 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


HOUSE  OF  A  NOBLEMAN  (TWELFTH  CENTURY). 


The  Home  of  a  prosperous 

Anglo-Saxon  consisted  generally 
of  a  large  wooden  building — the 
hall — surrounded  by  several  de- 
tached cabins,  the  homers,  situ- 
ated in  a  large  yard  enclosed  by 
an  earthwork  and  a  ditch,  with  a 
strong  gate  (the  hurh-gate)  fof 
entrance.  The  hall  was  the 
general  resort  of  the  numerous 
household.  It  was  hung  with 
cloth  or  embroidered  tapestries, 
and  had  hooks  for  arms,  armor, 
musical  instruments,  etc.  The 
floor  was  of  clay  or,  in  palaces, 
of  tile  mosaic.  Its  chief  furniture  was  benches,  which  served  as  seats 
by  day  and  for  beds  at  night.  A  sack  of  straw  and  a  straw  pillow,  with 
sheet,  coverlet,  and  goatskin,  laid  on  a  bench  or  on  the  floor,  furnished  a 
sufiicient  couch  for  even  a  royal  Saxon.  A  stool  or  chair  covered  with  a 
rug  or  cushion  marked 
the  master's  place.  The 
table  was  a  long  board 
placed  upon  tressels 
and  laid  aside  when 
not  in  use.  A  hole  in 
the  roof  gave  outlet  to 
the  clouds  of  smoke 
from  the  open  fire  on 
the  floor.  The  bowers 
furnished  private  sit- 
ting and  bed  rooms  for 
the  ladies  of  the  house, 
the  master,  and  distin- 
guished guests.  Here  the  Anglo-Saxon  dames  carded,  spun,  and  wove, 
and  wrought  the  gold  embroideries  that  made  their  needlework  famous 
throughout  Europe.  The  straw  bed  lay  on  a  bench  in  a  curtained  recess, 
and  the  furniture  was  scanty,  for  in  those  times  nothing  which  could 
not  be  easily  hidden  was  safe  from  plunderers.  The  little  windows 
(called  eye-holes)  were  closed  by  a  wooden  lattice,  thin  horn,  or  linen, 
for  glass  windows  were  as  yet  scarcely  known.  A  rude  candle  stuck 
upon  a  spike  was  used  at  night. — The  women  were  fond  of  flowers  and 
gardens.  At  the  great  feasts  they  passed  the  ale  and  mead,  and  dis- 
tributed gifts — the  spoils  of  victory — to  the  warrior-guests.-  They 
♦  The  master  was  called  the  hlqf-ord  (loaf  owner),  and  the  mistress  hlaf-dig  (loaf 


EARLY   ENGLISH    BENCH   OR   BED. 


RISE    OF    MODERN    NATIONS  —  ENGLAND. 


351 


were  as  hard  mistresses  as  the  old  Roman  matrons,  and  their  slaves 
were  sometimes  scourged  to  death  by  their  orders. 

Dress.— The  men  usually  went  bareheaded,  with  flowing  beard,  and 
long  hair  parted  in  the  middle,  A  girdled  tunic,  loose  short  trousers, 
and  wooden  or  leather  shoes  completed  the  costume.  The  rich  wore 
ornamented  silk  cloaks.  A  girl's  hair  hung  flowing  or  .braided;  after 
marriage  it  was  cut  short  or  bound  around  the  head,  as  a  mark  of  sub- 
jection. It  was  a  fashion  to  dye  the  hair  blue,  but  a  lady's  head-dress 
left  only  her  face  exposed ;  her  brilliantly-dyed  robes  and  palla  were, 
in  form,  not  unlike  those  of  Roman  times. 

Hunting  and  Hawking  were  the  favorite  outdoor  sports ;  the 
in-door  were  singing — for  even  a  laboring  man  was  disgraced  if  he  could 
not  sing  to  his  own  accompaniment — harp-playing,  story-telling,  and, 
above  all,  the  old  German  habits,  feasting  and  drinking. 


A   DINNER     PARTY. 


Scene  in  Anglo-Saxon  JAfQ,—The  Noon- Meat. —Kbowi  three 
o'clock  the  chief,  his  guests,  and  all  his  household  meet  in  the  hall. 
While  the  hungry  crowd,  fresh  from  woodland  and  furrow,  lounge 
near  the  fire  or  hang  up  their  weapons,  the  slaves  drag  in  the  heavy 
board,  spreading  on  its  upper  half  a  handsome  cloth.  The  tableware 
consists  of  wooden  platters  and  bread-baskets,  bowls  for  the  universal 
broth,  drinking-horns  and  cups,  a  few  steel  knives  shaped  like  our 
modern  razors,  and  some  spoons,  but  no  forks.  As  soon  as  the  board  is 
laid,  the  benches  are  drawn  up,  and  the  work  of  demolition  begins. 
Great  round  cakes  of  bread,  huge  junks  of  boiled  bacon,  vast  rolls  of 
broiled  eel,  cups  of  milk,  horns  of  ale,  wedges  of  cheese,  lumps  of  salt 
butter,  and  smoking  piles  of  cabbage  and  beans  all  disappear  like 
magic.  Kneeling  slaves  ofier  to  the  lord  and  his  honored  guests  long 
skewers  or  spits  on  which  steaks  of  beef  or  venison  smoke  and  sputter. 


distrftuter) ;  hence  the  modern  words  lord  and  lady. 
were  called  loc^-ecUers. 


The  domestics  and  retainers 


352 


MEDIiEVAL     fEOPLES. 


ready  for  tlie  hacking  blade.  Poultry,  game,  and  geese  are  on  the 
upper  board  ;  but,  except  the  bare  bones,  the  crowd  of  loaf-eaters  see 
little  of  these  dainties.  Fragments  and  bones  strew  the  floor,  where 
they  are  eagerly  snapped  up  by  hungry  hounds,  or  lie  till  the  close  of 
the  meal.  Meantime,  a  clamorous  mob  of  beggars  and  cripples  hang 
round  the  door,  squabbling  over  the  broken  meat  and  mingling  their 
unceasing  whine  with  the  many  noises  of  the  feast.* 


PRIMITIVE  METHOD   OF   COOKING  (FROM    14TH    CENTURY   MS.) 

After  the  banquet  comes  the  revel.  The  drinking-glasses— with 
rounded  bottoms,  so  that  they  cannot  stand  on  the  table,!  but  must  be 
emptied  at  a  draught— are  now  laid  aside  for  gold  and  silver  goblets, 
which  are  constantly  filled  and  refilled  with  mead  and — in  grand  houses 
— with  wine.  Gleemen  sing,  and  twang  the  violin  or  harp  (called  glee- 
wood),  or  blow  great  blasts  from  trumpets,  horns,  and  pipes,  or  act  the 
buffoon  with  dance  and  jugglery.  Amid  it  all  rises  the  gradually  increas- 
ing clamor  of  the  guests,  who,  fired  by  incessant  drinking,  change  their 
shouted  riddles  into  braggart  boasts,  then  into  taunts  and  threats,  and 
often  end  the  night  with  bloodshed.     (Condensed  from  Collier.) 

The  Worm  an  introduced  new  modes  of  thought  and  of  life. 
More  cleanly  and  delicate  in  personal  habits,  more  elaborate  in  tastes, 
more  courtly  and  ceremonious  in  manner,  fresh  from  a  province  where 
learning  had  just  revived  and  which  was  noted  for  its  artistic  architec- 
ture, and  coming  to  a  land  that  for  a  century  had  been  nearly  barren 
of  literature  and  whose  buildings  had  little  grace  or  beauty,  the  Nor- 
man added  culture  and  refinement  to  the  Anglo  Saxon  strength  and 
Bturdiness.     Daring  and  resolute  in  attack,  steady  in  discipline,  skilful 


*  In  Norman  times  the  beggars  grew  so  insolent  that  ushers  armed  with  rods  were 
posted  outside  the  hall  door  to  keep  them  from  snatching  the  food  from  the  dishes 
as  the  cooks  carried  it  to  the  table. 

t  This  characteristic  of  the  old  drinking-cups  is  said  to  have  given  rise  to  the 
modem  name  of  lumbkr. 


RISE    0:B    modern    N^ATlONS  —  ENGLAND.     ^53 

in  exacting  submission,  fond  of  outside  splendor,  proud  of  military- 
power,  and  appreciative  of  thought  and  learning,  it  was  to  him,  says 
Pearson,  that  "  England  owes  the  builder,  the  knight,  the  schoolman, 
the  statesman."  But  it  was  still  only  the  refinement  of  a  brutal  age. 
The  Norman  soon  drifted  into  the  gluttonous  habits  he  had  at  first 
ridiculed,  and  the  conquest  was  enforced  so  pitilessly  that  "it  was 
impossible  to  walk  the  streets  of  any  great  city  without  meeting  men 
whose  eyes  had  been  torn  out  and  whose  feet  or  hands,  or  both,  had 
been  lopped  off. " 


PREPARING    A    CANDIDATE    FOR    KNIGHTHOOD. 
(From  a  Manuscript,  Twelfth  Century.) 


354 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES, 


II.    FRANCE. 


NORMAN    SHIP   (FROM   THE   BAYEUX  XAPESTRV). 


The  Norsemen — Scandinavians.,  like  the  Danish  invad- 
ers of  England — began  to  ravage  the  coast  of  France  during 
the  days  of  Charlemagne.  Under  his  weak  successors,  they 
came  thick  and  fast,  ascending  the  rivers  in  their  boats,  and 
burning  and  plundering  far  and  near.  At  last,  in  sheer 
desperation,  Charles  the  Simple  gave  Rollo — the  boldest  of 
the  vikings — a  province  since  known  as  Normandy.  Eollo 
took  the  required  oath  of  feudal  service,  but  delegated  the 
ceremony  of  doing  homage  to  one  of  his  followers,  who 
lifted  the  monarch's  foot  to  his  mouth  so  suddenly  as  to 
upset  king  and  throne. 

Soon,  a  wonderful  change  occurred.  The  Normans,  as 
they  were  henceforth  called,  showed  as  much  vigor  in  culti- 
vating their  new  estates  as  they  had  formerly  in  devastating 


911.]     RISE    OF    MODERN    K  ATI  0  N  S  — F  R  AKCE, 


355 


them.  They  adopted  the  language,  religion,  and  customs  of 
the  French,  and,  though  they  invented  nothing,  they  devel- 
oped and  gave  new  life  to  all  they  touched.  Ere  long 
Normandy  became  the  fairest  province,  and  these  wild 
Norsemen,  the  bravest  knights,  the  most  astute  statesmen, 
and  the  grandest  builders  of  France. 

TABLE  OF   FRENCH    MEDI/EVAL  KINGS. 


Hugh  Capet 

I 
Robert 

Henry  T. 

Philip  I. 

I 


(987-'96). 

(996-1031). 

(1031--60). 

(1060-1108). 

(1108-'37). 


Louis  VI.,  the  Fat 

Louis  VH.,  the  Young  (1137-'80). 

Philip  II.,  Augustus     (1180-1283). 

Louis  VIII.  (1223-'26). 

I 


Louis  IX.,  Saint  (1226-'70). 


Charles,  Count  of  Anjou  and  Provence, 
founder  of  House  of  Naple!^. 


I 
Philip  IH.,  the  Hardy  (1270-'85). 


EoBErT,  Count  of  Clermont,  founder  of 
House  of  Bourbon. 


Philip  IV.,  the  Fair  (1285-1314). 


Charles,  Count  of  Valoie,  founder  of 
House  of  Valois  (p.  360). 


Louis  X.  (1314).  Philip  V.  (1316).  Charles 

Charles,  Count  of  Valois,  son  of  Philip  III. 
Philip  VI.  (1328-'50). 
John,  the  Good  (1350-'64). 
Charles  V.,  the  Wise  (1364-'80). 


iV. 


(1322). 

Isabella,  m. 
Edward  II.  of 

England. 

Edward  III. 
(p.  360). 


Charles  VI.,  the  Well-beloved  (1380-1422). 
Charles  VIL,  the  Victorious  (1422-'61). 
Louis  XI.  (1461-'83). 
I  Charles  VIII.  (1483-'98). 


Louis,  Duke  of  Orleans, 

founder  of  House  of 

Valois-Orleans. 


356  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [848-981 

The  Later  Carlovingian  Kings  *  proved  as  power- 
less to  defend  and  govern,  as  they  had  to  preserve,  the 
inheritance  of  their  great  ancestors.  During  the  terror  of 
the  Norseman  invasion,  the  people  naturally  turned  for  pro- 
tection to  the  neighboring  lords,  whose  castles  were  their 
only  refuge.  Feudalism,  consequently,  grew  apace.  In  the 
10th  century  France  existed  only  in  name.  Normandy, 
Burgundy,  Aquitaine,  Champagne,  Toulouse,  were  the  true 
states,  each  with  its  independent  government,  and  its  own 
life  and  history. 

The  Capetian  Kings.— As  Charles  Martel,  Mayor  of 
the  Palace,  gained  power  during  the  last  days  of  the  do- 
nothing,  Merovingian  kings,  and  his  son  established  a  new 
dynasty,  so,  in  the  decadence  of  the  Carlovingians,  Hugh 
the  Great,  Count  of  Paris,  gained  control,  and  his  son, 
Hugh  Capet,  was  crowned  at  Rheims  (987).  Thus  was 
founded  the  third,  or  Capetian  Line.  France  had  now  a 
native  French  king,  and  its  capital  was  Paris. 

Weakness  of  the  Monarchy.  —  The  Royal  Domain 
(see  map),  however,  was  only  a  small  territory  along  the 
Seine  and  Loire.  Even  there  the  king  scarcely  ruled  his 
nobles,  while  the  great  vassals  of  the  crown  paid  him  scant 
respect.  The  early  Capets  made  little  progress  toward 
strengthening  their  authority.  When  William,  duke  of 
Normandy,  won  the  English  crown,  there  began  a  long 
rivalry  that  retarded  the  growth  of  France  for  centuries ; 
and  when  Eleanor,  the  divorced  wife  of  Louis  VII.,  was 
married  to  Henry  Plantagenet,  Count  of  Anjou — so  carry- 
ing her  magnificent  inheritance  of  Poitou  and  Aquitaine  to 


*  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  they  have  come  down  to  us  with  the  nicknames  of 
the  Good-natured,  the  Bald,  the  Stammerer,  the  Fat,  the  Simple,  and  the  Idle  (Brief 
Hist,  of  France,  App.,  p.  25). 


RISE    OF    MODERN"    NATION-S  —  FRANCE.        357 


PARAMOUNT    FEUDATORIES 
at  the  time  of  the  accession  of 

HUGH   CAPET 


MEDITERRANEAN 
SEA 


Fitk  &  So.  N.  Y 


him  who  soon  after  became  Henry  11.  of  England,  — the 
French  crown  was  completely  overshadowed. 

G-rowth  of  the  Monarchy.  —  The  history  of  France 
during  the  13th,  14th,  and  loth  centuries  shows  how,  in 
spite  of  foreign  foes,  she  absorbed  the  great  fiefs,  one  by  one ; 
how  royalty  triumphed  over  feudalism,  and  finally  all  became 
consolidated  into  one  great  monarchy. 

Philip  Augustus  (1180-1223)  was  the  ablest  monarch 
France  had  seen  since  Charlemagne.    When  a  mere  boy  he 


358 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


[13th  cent. 


PHILIP    AUGUSTUS. 


gained  the  counties  of 
Vermandois,  Amiens, 
and  Valois  ;  while  by 
his  marriage  he  se- 
cured L'Artois. 

King  John  of  Eng- 
land being  accused  of 
having  murdered  his 
nephew  Arthur — the 
heir  of  Brittan}* — Phil- 
ip summoned  him,  as 
his  vassal,  to  answer 
for  the  crime  before 
the  peers  of  France. 
On  his  non-appearance, 
John  was  adjudged  to  have  forfeited  his  fiefs.  AVar  ensued, 
during  whicli  Philip  captured  not  only  Normandy,  which 
gave  him  control  of  the  mouth  of  the  Seine,  but  also  Anjou, 
Maine,  and  Touraine,  upon  the  Loire. 

Certain  cities  were  granted  royal  charters  conferring  spe- 
cial privileges  ;  under  these,  the  citizens  formed  associations 
(commimes)  for  mutual  defence,  elected  magistrates,  and 
organized  militia.  When  Phihp  invaded  Flanders,  the 
troops  from  sixteen  of  the  communes  fought  at  his  side  and 
helped  him  win  the  battle  of  Bouvines  (1214)  over  the  Flem- 
ings, Germans,  and  English.  It  was  the  first  great  French 
victory,  and  gave  to  the  crown  authoiity,  and  to  the  people 
a  thirst  for  military  glory. 

The  AlMgenses — so  called  from  the  city  of  Albi — professed 
doctrines  at  variance  with  the  Church  of  Eome.  Pope  In- 
nocent III.  accordingly  preached  a  crusade  against  them  and 
their  chief  defender.  Count  Eaymond  of  Toulouse.  It  was 
led  by  Simon  de  Montfort,  father  of  the  earl  famous  in 


]        RISE    OF    MODERN    N  ATIO  N^S^FR  A  XC  E. 


350 


English  history.  Ruthless  adventurers  flocked  to  his  stand- 
ard from  all  sides,  and  for  years  this  beautiful  land  was 
ravaged  with  fire  and  sword.  Helpless  Toulouse  at  last 
lapsed  to  the  crown,  and  so  France  acquired  the  Mediterra- 
nean coast.  Instead  of  being  shut  up  to  the  lands  about 
Pai'is,  the  kingdom  now  touched  three  seas. 

Louis  IX.  (1226-70)  is  best  known  by  his  title  of  Saint, 
and  history  loves  to  describe  him  as  sitting  beneath  the 
spreading  oak  at  Vincennes,  and  dispensing  justice  among 
his  people.  By  his  integrity,  goodness,  and  strength  of 
mind  he  made  all  classes  respect  his  rule.  He  firmly  re- 
pressed the  warring  barons,  and  established  the  Parliament 
of  Paris — a  court  of  justice  to  enforce  equal  laws  through- 
out the  realm.  During  this  beneficent  reign,  royalty  and 
the  country  made  such  progress  that  France  assumed  the 
first  rank  among  the  European  na- 
tions. 

PhUip  IV.  (1285-1314)  was 
called  the  Fair — a  title  which  ap- 
plied to  his  complexion  rather  than 
his  character,  for  he  was  crafty  and 
cruel.  In  order  to  repress  the 
nobles,  he  encouraged  the  com- 
munes and  elevated  the  bourgeoisie, 
or  middle  classes.  His  reign  is 
memorable  for  the  long  and  bitter 
contest  which  he  carried  on  with 
the  Pope,  Boniface  VIII.  To 
strengthen  himself,  the  king  sum- 
moned for  the  first  time  in  French 
history  (1302)  the  States- General, 
or  deputies  of  the  Three  Estates  of 
the  Realm — the  nobles,  the  clergy,  a  soldier  (fourteenth  century). 


mo 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


[14th  -cent. 


and  the  commons  {tiers  Stat).  The  people  thus  obtained 
representation.  The  papal  court  was  finally  removed  to 
Avignon,  and  the  new  Pope,  Clement  V.,  became  in  effect  a 

vassal  of  France. 

The  order  of  Templars  (p.  399), 
by  its  wealth  and  pride,  excited 
Philip's  greed  and  jealousy.  He 
accordingly  seized  the  knights, 
and  confiscated  their  treasures. 
The  members  were  accused  of 
frightful  crimes,  which  they  con- 
fessed under  torture,  and  many 
were  burned  at  the  stake. 

House  of  Valois.  —  Philip's 
three  sons  came  to  the  throne 
in  succession,  but  died  leaving 
no  male  heir.  The  question  then 
arose  whether  the  crown  could 
It  was  decided  that,  according  to  the 
old  Salic  law  of  the  Franks,  the  kingdom  could  not  '^fall  to 
the  distaff."  During  the  short  reign  of  Philip's  sons,  their 
uncle  Charles,  Count  of  Valois,  secured  almost  royal  power, 
and — the  third  instance  of  the  kind  in  French  history — his 
son  obtained  the  crown,  which  thus  went  to  the  Valois 
branch  of  the  Capet  family.  This  succession  was  disputed 
by  Edward  III.  of  England,  as  son  of  the  daughter  of 
Philip  IV.     So  began  the  contest  called 

The  Hundred-Years  War  (1328-1453).— Like  the 
Peloponnesian  War  of  ancient  Greece,  this  long  struggle  was 
not  one  of  continuous  fighting,  but  was  broken  by  occasional 
truces,  or  breathing-spells,  caused  by  the  sheer  exhaustion  of 
the  contestants.  Throughout  the  progress  of  this  contest 
the  fortunes  of  France  and  England  were  so  linked  that  the 


A    KNIGHT    TEMPLAR. 


descend  to  a  female. 


1328.]        RISE    OF    MODERl^^    NATIONS  —  FRANCE.   361 

same  events  often  form  the  principal  features  in  the  history 
of  both,  while  there  were  many  striking  coincidences  and 
contrasts  in  the  condition  of  the  two  countries. 


FRANCE. 

Philip  of  Valois  (1328-'50)  came  to 
the  throne  at  nearly  the  same  time  as  his 
English  rival,  though  France  had  three 
kings  (Philip,  John,  and  Charles)  during 
Edward  ///.'s  reign  of  fifty  years.  The 
storm  of  war  was  long  gathering.  Philip, 
coveting  Aqultaine,  excited  hostilities 
upon  its  borders ;  gathered  a  fleet,  and 
destroyed  Southampton  and  Plymouth ; 
interrupted  the  English  trade  with  the 
great  manufacturing  cities  of  Ghent  and 
Bruges;  and  aided  the  revolt  of  Robert 
Bruce  in  Scotland.  A  war  of  succession 
having  arisen  in  Brittany,  and  the  rival 
kings  supporting  opposite  factions, 
Phihp,  during  a  truce,  invited  a  party  of 
Breton  noblemen  to  a  tournament,  and 
beheaded  them  without  trial. 


ENGLAND. 

Edward  III.'s  (1327-'77)  reign  wit- 
nessed England's  most  brilliant  achieve- 
ments in  war.  At  first  Edward  did  hom- 
age for  his  lands  in  France;  but  after- 
ward, exasperated  by  Philip's  hostility, 
he  asserted  his  claim  to  the  French 
throne ;  made  allies  of  Flanders  and 
Germany  ;  quartered  the  lilies  of  France 
with  the  lions  of  England  ;  assembled  a 
fleet,  and  defeated  the  French  oflF  Sluys 
(1340),  thus  winning  the  first  great  Eng- 
lish naval  victory;  and  finally,  upon 
Philip's  perfidy  in  slaying  the  Breton 
knights,  invaded  Normandy,  and  ravaged 
the  country  to  the  very  walls  of  Paris. 
On  his  retreat,  he  was  overtaken  by  an 
overwhelming  French  army  near  Crecy. 


Battle  of  Crecy  (1346).— The  English  yeomanry  had 
learnt  the  use  of  the  long  bow,  and  now  formed  Edward's 
main  reliance. 

The  French  army  was  a  motley  feudal  array,  the  knights 
despising  all  who  fought  on  foot.  The  advance  was  led  by  a 
body  of  Genoese  cross-bow  men,  who  recoiled  before  the  piti- 
less storm  of  English  arrows.  The  French  knights,  instantly 
charging  forward,  trampled  the  helpless  Italians  under  foot. 
In  the  midst  of  the  confusion,  the  English  poured  down  on 
their  struggling  ranks.  Philip  himself  barely  escaped,  and 
reached  Amiens  with  only  five  attendants. 

The  result  of  this  victory  was  the  capture  of  Calais.  Ed- 
ward, driving  out  the  inhabitants,  made  it  an  English  settle- 
ment. Henceforth,  for  two  hundred  years,  this  city  afforded 
the  English  an  open  door  into  the  heart  of  France.  Crecy 
was  a  triumph  of  the  churl  over  the  knight,  and  it  inspired 
England  with  a  love  of  conquest. 


362 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES, 


[14Tn   CENT. 


The  Black  Death  (1347-50),  a  terrible  plague  from 
the  East,  now  swept  over  Europe.  Half  the  population  of 
England  perished.  Travelers  in  Germany  found  cities  and 
villages  without  a  living  inhabitant.  At  sea,  ships  were  dis- 
covered adrift,  their  crews  having  all  died  of  the  pestilence. 
The  mad  passions  of  men  were  stayed  in  the  presence  of  this 
fearful  scourge.  Just  as  it  abated,  Philip  died,  leaving  the 
crown  to  his  son. 


KING  JOHN   AND   HIS  SON   AT  POITIERS. 


John  the  Good  (1350-'64)  was  brave  i 
EBd  chivalrous,  but   his   rashness   and  [ 
gayety  were  in  marked  contrast  with  Ed- 
ward's stem  common  sense.    His  char- 
acter was  written  all  over  with  Crecys.  j 
Charles  the  Bad,  the  turbulent  king  of  | 
Navarre,  was  constantly  rousing  opposi-  ' 
tion :  John  seized  him  at  a  supper  given  | 
by  the  Dauphin  (the  eldest  son  of  the 
French  king),  and  threw  him  into  prison. 
Charles's  friends  appealed   to   Edward, 
and  did  homage  to  him  for  their  domains.  | 


While  Edward  was  absent,  the  Scots, 
as  usual  in  alliance  with  France  (p.  345), 
invaded  England ;  but,  in  the  same  year 
with  Crecy,  Edward's  queen,  Philippa, 
defeated  them  at  NeviWs  Cross.  The 
French  war  smoldered  on,  with  fitful 
truce  and  plundering  raid,  until  Edward 
espoused  Charles's  cause,  when  the  con- 
test broke  out  anew.  The  Prince  of 
Wales— called  the  Black  Prince,  from  the 
color  of  his  armor— carried  fire  and  sword 
to  the  heart  of  Prance. 


Battle  of  Poitiers  (1356).— John  having  assembled  sixty 


1356.]       RISE    OF    MODERN"    NATIONS  —  FRANCE.   363 

thousand  men,  the  flower  of  French  chivalry,  intercepted  the 
prince  returning  with  his  booty.  It  was  ten  years  since 
Or^cy,  and  the  king  hoped  to  retrieve  its  disgrace,  but  he 
only  doubled  it.  The  Prince's  little  army  of  eight  thousand 
was  posted  on  a  hill,  the  sole  approach  being  by  a  lane  bor- 


J 

^ 

'i^^^^^.                   ^^^^p 

■J\l_~  "  ^^^^oBi 

^^^^^^^^^^S 

|j^g^^^^^ 

^^^n^^^^H 

^^^^^^m 

^^^^S^^^H 

^^^^^m 

^^^  J  ^    '    '  -  ^^Sh 

IPH^^^^g^^y 

^"  ^  '^   ^H 

^^^^^A 

(te~                /^^B 

^jj^^^^^^^^^  i 

J 

^.^^^ 

^^^S  1 

^B 

^^^H^^^^S^  / 

"^^^^^^^^^q          ray             ^» 

J 

fro/ 

1 

J 

r 

-^m; 

ENGLISH    LONG-BOW   MEN. 


dered  with  hedges,  behind  which  the  English  archers  were 
concealed.  The  French  knights,  galloping  up  this  road, 
were  smitten  by  the  shafts  of  the  bowmen.  Thrown  into 
disorder,  they  fell  back  on  the  main  body  below,  when  the 
Black  Prince  in  turn  charged  down  the  hill.  John  sprang 
from  his  horse,  and  fought  till  he  and  his  young  son,  Philip, 
were  left  almost  alone.    This  brave  boy  stood  at  his  father's 


364 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


[1356. 


side,  crying  out,  "  Guard  the  left !     Guard  the  right ! "  until, 
pressed  on  every  hand,  the  king  was  forced  to  surrender. 

The  Black  Prince  treated  his  prisoner  with  the  courtesy 
befitting  a  gallant  knight.  He  stood  behind  his  chair  at 
dinner,  and,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  age,  waited  upon 
him  like  a  servant.  When  they  entered  London,  the  captive 
king  was  mounted  on  a  splendidly-caparisoned  white  charger, 
while  the  conqueror  rode  at  his  side  on  a  black  pony.  John 
was  afterward  set  free  by  the  Treaty  of  Bretigny,  agreeing 
to  give  up  Aquitaine  and  pay  three  million  crowns.  One  of 
his  sons,  however,  who  had  been  left  at  Calais  as  a  hostage, 
escaped.  Thereupon  John,  feeling  bound  in  honor,  went 
back  to  his  splendid  captivity. 


The  Condition  of  France  was  now 
pitiable  indeed.  The  French  army,  dis-* 
solved  into  companies  called  Free  Lances, 
roamed  the  country,  plundering  friend 
and  foe.  Even  the  Pope  at  Avignon  had 
to  redeem  himself  with  forty  thousand 
crowns.  The  land  in  the  track  of  the 
English  armies  lay  waste ;  the  plough 
rusted  in  the  furrow,  and  the  houses  were 
blackened  ruins.  The  ransoms  of  the  re- 
leased nobles  were  squeezed  from  Jacques 
Bonhomme— as  the  lords  nicknamed  the 
peasant.  Beaten  and  tortured  to  reveal 
their  little  hoards,  the  serfs  fled  to  the 
woods,  or  dug  pits  in  which  to  hide  from 
their  tormentors.  Brutalized  by  centu- 
ries of  tyranny,  they  at  last  rose  as  by  a 
common  impulse  of  despair  and  hate. 
Snatching  any  weapon  at  hand,  they 
rushed  to  the  nearest  chateau,  and  piti- 
lessly burned  and  massacred.  The  Eng- 
lish joined  with  the  French  gentry  in 
crushing  this  rebellion  ("The  Jacque- 
rie"). Meanwhile  the  bourgeoisie  in 
Paris,  sympathizing  with  the  peasants, 
rose  to  check  the  license  of  the  nobles 
and  the  tyranny  of  the  crovra.  The 
states-General  made  a  stand  for  liberty, 
refusing  the  Dauphin  money  and  men  for 
the  war,  except  with  guarantees.  But 
the  Dauphin  marched  on  Paris  ;  Marcel, 
the  liberal  leader,  was  slain,  and  this  at- 


The  Black  Prince  was  entrusted  with 
the  government  of  Aquitaine.  Here  he 
took  the  part  of  Don  Pedro  the  Cruel— a 
dethroned  king  of  Castile— and  won  him 
back  his  kingdom.  But  the  thankless 
Pedro  refused  to  pay  the  cost,  and  the 
Black  Prince  returned,  ill,  cross,  and 
penniless.  The  haughty  English  were 
little  liked  in  Aquitaine,  and,  when  the 
Prince  levied  a  house-tax  to  replenish  his 
treasury,  they  turned  to  the  Dauphin— 
now  Charles  V.  —  who  summoned  the 
Prince  to  answer  for  his  exactions.  ■  On 
his  refusal,  Charles  declared  the  English 
possessions  in  France  forfeited.  The 
Prince  rallied  his  ebbing  strength,  and, 
borne  in  a  litter,  took  the  field.  He  cap- 
tured Limoges,  but  sullied  his  fair  fame 
by  a  massacre  of  the  inhabitants,  and  was 
carried  to  England  to  die.  He  was  buried 
in  Canterbury  Cathedral,  where  his  hel- 
met, shield,  gauntlets,  and  surcoat— em- 
broidered with  the  arms  of  Prance  and 
England— still  hang  above  his  tomb. 

Defeat  of  the  Unglish.—Eng\mA  had 
lost  the  warriors  who  won  Crecy  and 
Poitiers  ;  moreover,  Du  Guesclin  fought 
no  pitched  battles,  but  waged  a  far  more 
dangerous  guerilla  warfare.  "Never," 
said  Edward,  "  was  there  a  French  king 
who  wore  so  little  armor,  yet  never  was 
there  one  who  gave  me  so  much  to  do." 


1364.]      RISE    OF    MODERN    NATIONS  —  FRANCE.     365 


PRINCE  EDWARD'S  TOMB  AT  CANTERBURY. 


tempt  of  the  people  to  win  their  rights 
was  stamped  out  in  blood. 

Charles  V.  (1364-'80),  the  Wise, 
merited  the  epithet.  Calling  to  his  side 
a  brave  Breton  knight,  Dn  Gues^clin,  he 
relieved  France, by  sending  the  Free 
Lances  to  fight  against  Don  Pedro. 
When  the  Aquitainans  asked  for  help, 
Charles  saw  his  opportunity.  For  the 
dreaded  Black  Prince  was  sick,  and  Ed- 
ward was  growing  old.  So  he  renewed 
the  contest.  He  did  not,  like  his  father, 
rush  headlong  into  battle,  but  committed 
his  army  to  Dn  Guesclin— now  Constable 
of  France— with  orders  to  let  famine, 
rather  than  fighting,  do  the  work.  One 
by  one  he  got  back  the  lost  provinces, 
and  the  people  gladly  returned  to  their 
natural  ruler. 

The  Constable  died  while  besieging  a 
castle  in  Auvergne,  and  the  governor, 
who  had  agreed  to  surrender  on  a  certain 
day,  laid  the  keys  of  the  stronghold  upon 
the  hero's  cofiin.  Charles  survived  his 
great  general  only  a  few  months,  but  he 
had  regained  nearly  all  his  father  and 
grandfather  had  lost. 

Charles  VI.  (1380-1422),  a  beautiful 
boy  of  twelve  years,  became  king.  He 
apcended  the  throne  three  years  after 
Richard,  and  his  reign  coincided  with 
those  of  three  English  kings  (Richard  IT., 


And  now  Edward  closed  his  long 
reign.  Scarcely  was  the  great  warrior 
laid  in  his  grave,  ere  the  English  coast 
was  ravaged  by  the  French  fleet.  This, 
too,  only  twenty  years  from  Poitiers. 
Domestic  aflfairs  were  not  more  pros- 
perous. True,  foreign  war  had  served  to 
diminish  race  hatred.  Norman  knight, 
Saxon  bowman,  and  Welsh  lancer  had 
shared  a  common  danger  and  a  common 
glory  at  Crecy  and  Poitiers.  But  the  old 
enmity  now  took  the  form  of  a  struggle 
between  the  rich  and  the  poor.  The 
yoke  of  villeinage,  which  obliged  the 
bondsmen  to  till  their  lord's  land,  harvest 
his  crops,  etc.,  bore  heavily.  During  the 
Black  Death,  many  laborers  died,  and 
consequently  wages  rose.  The  landlords 
refused  to  pay  the  increase,  and  Parlia- 
ment passed  a  law  punishing  any  one 
asking  a  higher  price  for  his  work.  This 
enraged  the  peasants.  One  John  Ball 
went  about  denouncing  all  landlords,  and 
often  quoting  the  lines, 

"  When  Adam  delved  and  Eve  span 
Who  was  then  the  gentleman? " 

Richard  II.  (1377-'99),  a  beautiful 
boy  of  eleven  years,  became  king.  Heavy 
taxation  having  still  further  Incensed  4,he 
disaffected  peasants,  thousands  rose  in 
arms,  and  marched  upon  London  (1381). 


366 


MEDIiEVAL     PEOPLES. 


[14th  cent. 


Henry  IV.,  and  V.)— the  reverse  of  the 
reign  of  Edward  III.  Both  countries 
were  now  governed  by  minors,  who  were 
under  the  influence  of  ambitious  uncles, 
anxious  for  their  own  personal  power. 

Charles's  guardians  assembled  a  great 
fleet  at  Sluys,  and  for  a  time  frightened 
England  by  the  fear  of  invasion.  Next, 
they  led  an  army  into  Flanders,  and  at 
liosehecque  (1382)  the  French  knights, 
with  their  mailed  horses  and  long  lances, 
trampled  down  the  Flemings  by  thou- 
sands. This  was  a  triumph  of  feudalism 
and  the  aristocracy  over  popular  liberty  ; 
and  the  French  cities  which  had  revolted 
against  the  tyranny  of  the  court  were 
punished  with  terrible  severity.  Charles 
dismissed  his  guardians  a  year  earlier 
than  Kichard,  and,  more  fortunate  than 
he,  called  to  the  head  of.affairs  Du  Clis- 
Bon,  friend  and  successor  of  Du  Guesclin. 
Tlie  King's  lasanity.—Kw  attempt  be- 
ing made  to  assassinate  the  Constable, 
Charles  pursued  the  criminals  into  Brit- 
tany. One  sultry  day,  as  he  was  going 
through  a  forest,  a  crazy  man  darted  be- 
fore him  and  shouted,  "Thou  art  be- 
trayed ! "  The  king,  weak  from  illness 
and  the  heat,  was  startled  into  madness. 
The  Dukes  of  Burgundy  and  Orleans 
now  governed,  while,  for  thirty  years,  a 
maniac  sat  upon  the  throne.  The  death  of 
Burgundy  only  doubled  the  horrors  of  the 
times,  for  his  son,  John  the  fearless,  was 
yet  more  unprincipled  and  cruel.  Final- 
ly, John  became  reconciled  to  his  cousin, 
Louis,  Duke  of  Orleans,  and,  in  token 
thereof,  they  partook  of  the  sacrament 
together.  Three  days  afterward,  Orleans 
was  murdered  by  Burgundy's  servants. 
The  crazy  king  pardoned  the  murderer 
of  his  brother.  The  new  Duke  of  Orleans 
being  young,  his  father-in-law,  the  Count 
of  Armagnac,  became  the  head  of  the 
party  which  took  his  name.  The  Burgun- 
dians  espoused  the  popular  cause,  and 
were  friendly  to  England ;  the  Orlean- 
ists,  the  aristocratic  side,  and  opposed 
England.  The  queen  joined  the  Burgun- 
dians ;  the  Dauphin,  the  Armagnacs. 
Paris  ran  with  blood. 


The  boy-king  met  them  on  Smithfield 
common.  Their  leader,  Wat  Tyler,  ut- 
tering a  threat,  was  slain  by  the  mayor. 
A  cry  of  vengeance  rising  from  the  mul- 
titude, Richard  boldly  rode  forward,  ex- 
claiming, "I  am  your  king.  I  wiil  be 
yourleader,"  The  peasants  accepted  his 
written  guarantee  of  their  freedom,  and 
went  home  quietly.  Bnt  Parliament  re- 
fused to  ratify  the  king's  pledges,  and 
this  insurrection  was  trodden  out  by  the 
nobles,  as  the  Jacquerie  had  been  twenty- 
three  years  before,  in  blood. 

Eichard's  character,  besides  this  one 
act  of  courage,  showed  few  kingly  traits. 
His  reign  was  a  constant  struggle  with 
his  uncles.  When  he  threw  off  their 
yoke,  he  ruled  well  for  a  time,  but  soon 
began  to  act  the  despot,  and  by  his  reck- 
lessness alienated  all  classes.  With  his 
kingdom  in  this  unsettled  state,  he  sought 
peace  by  marrying  a  child-wife  only  eight 
years  old,  Isabella,  daughter  of  Charles 
VI.  of  France.  This  marriage  was  un- 
popular; the  people  were  restless,  the 
nobles  unruly,  and,  finally,  Richard's 
cousin,  Henry  of  Lancaster,  seized  the 
crown.  Richard  was  deposed,  and  soon 
after,  as  is  thought,  was  murdered  in 
prison,  like  his  great-'^randfather,  Ed- 
ward II. 

Henry  IV.  (1399-1413),  who  now 
founded  the  House  of  Lancaster,  was 
authorized  by  Parliament  to  rule,  though 
the  Earl  of  March,  a  descendaut  of 
Lionel  (p.  340),  was  nearer  the  throne. 
As  Henry  owed  his  place  to  Parlia- 
ment, he  had  to  act  pretty  much  as 
that  body  pleased.  The  great  nobles 
were  none  too  willing  to  obey.  The  reign 
was,  therefore,  a  troubled  one.  England 
could  take  no  advantage  of  the  distracted 
state  of  affairs  in  France. 

Henry  V.  (1413-1422),  to  strengthen 
his  weak  title  to  the  throne  by  victory, 
and  to  give  the  discontented  nobles  war 
abroad  instead  of  leaving  them  to  plot 
treason  at  home,  invaded  France.  While 
marching  from  Harfleur  to  Calais,  he  met 
a  vastly  superior  French  force  upon  the 
plain  of  Azincourt. 


Battle   of  Azincourt  (1415). — The   French  army  was 
the  flower  of  chivalry.     The  knights,  resplendent  in  theix 


1415.]       RISE    OF    MODERN    NATIOJ^S  —  FRANCE.     367 

armor,  charged  upon  the  Enghsh  line.  But  their  horses 
floundered  in  the  muddy  ploughed  fields,  while  a  storm  of 
arrows  beat  down  horse  and  rider.  In  the  confusion  the 
English  advanced,  driving  all  before  them.  It  was  Crecy 
and  Poitiers  over  again.  Ten  thousand  Frenchmen  fell, 
four-fifths  of  whom  were  of  gentle  blood. 

Treaty  of  Troyes  (1420).  Henry  again  crossed  the 
channel,  captured  Eouen,  and  threatened  Paris.  In  the 
face  of  this  peril,  the  Dauphin  and  the  Duke  of  Burgundy 
met  for  conference.  It  ended  in  the  assassination  of  Bur- 
gundy. His  son,  Philip  the  Good,  at  once  went  over  to  the 
English  camp,  taking  with  him  the  queen  and  the  helpless 
king.  He  there  concluded  a  treaty,  which  declared  Henry 
regent  and  heir  of  the  kingdom,  and  gave  him  the  hand  of 
Charles's  daughter,  Catharine.  Paris  and  northern  France 
submitted  ;  but  the  Armagnacs,  with  the  Dauphin,  held  the 
southern  part.  The  conqueror  did  not  live  to  wear  the 
crown  he  had  won.  The  hero  of  Azincourt  and  his  father- 
in-law,  Charles  VI.,  the  crazy  king,  died  within  two  months 
of  each  other. 

[The  next  three  reigns  of  the  French  and  the  English  kings  corre- 
spond to  a  year.  France  now  loses  a  mad  monarch  and  gets  a  frivolous 
king,  who  finally  matures  into  a  strong  "ruler ;  England  loses  a  great 
warrior,  and  gets  an  infant  who,  when  he  matures  into  manhood,  shows 
no  strength,  and  inherits  from  his  mother  the  tendency  of  the  French 
royal  family  to  insanity.] 


Charles  "VTI.  (1422-'61),  called  the 
"  King  of  Bourges"— from  the  city  where 
he  was  crowned— was  bo  poor  that  the 
chroniclers  of  the  time  tell  of  the  straits 


Henry  "VI.  (1422-'61),  though  an  in- 
fant, was  proclaimed  at  Paris  king  of 
England  and  France,  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford acting  as  regent.    In  England  there 


to  which  he  was  reduced  for  a  pair  of  j  was  no  question  as  to  the  succession,  and 
hoots.  Gay  and  pleasure-loving,  he  was  i  the  daims  of  the  Earl  of  March  were  not 
indifferent  to  the  agony  of  his  native  |  thought  of  a  moment.  All  eyes  were 
land.  Not  so  with  Jeanne  Daic,  a  maiden  i  fixed  on  France— the  new  kingdom  Hen- 
in  Domremy.  As  she  fed  her  flock,  she  '  ry  V.  had  added  to  the  English  monarchy, 
seemed  to  hear  angel-voices  saying  that  i  There  Bedford  gained  two  great  battles, 
she  was  chosen  to  save  France.  Going  j  won  town  after  town,  and,  finally,  resolv- 
to  Charles,  she  announced  that  she  was     ing  to  carry  the  war  into  southern  France, 


368 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES 


[15th  cent. 


sent  of  Heaven  to  conduct  him  to  be 
crowned  at  Rlieims— then  in  possession 
of  the  English.  The  king  reluctantly 
committed  his  cause  into  her  hands. 


laid  siege  to  Orleans.  The  capture  of 
this  city  was  imminent,  when  Charles's 
cause  was  saved  by  a  maiden. 


Jeanne,  wearing  a  consecrated  sword  and  bearing  a  holy 
banner,  led  Charles's  army  into  Orleans.  The  French  sol- 
diers were  inspired 
by  her  presence, 
while  the  English 
quailed  with  super- 
stitious fear.  The 
Maid  of  Orleans, 
as  she  was  now 
called,  raised  the 
siege,  led  Charles 
to  Rheims,  and 
saw  him  crowned. 
Then,  her  mission 
accomplished,  she 
begged  leave  to  go 
back  to  her  hum- 
ble home.  But  she 
had  become  too  valuable  to  Charles,  and  he  urged  her  to 
remain.  The  maid's  trust,  however,  was  gone,  and  the  spell 
of  her  success  failed.  She  was  captured,  thrown  into  a 
dungeon  at  Rouen,  and  tried  as  a  witch.  Abandoned  by  all, 
Jeanne  was  condemned  and  burnt  at 'the  stake  (1431). 


JEANNE  DARC   QOAN   OF  ARC). 


The  spirit  of  the  maid  survived  her 
death.  French  patriotism  was  aroused, 
and,  in  spite  of  himself,  Charles  was 
borne  to  victory.  First,  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy  grew  lukewarm  in  the  English 
cause,  and,  finally,  Armagnacs  and  Bur- 
gundians  clasped  hands  in  the  Treaty  of 
Arras  (1435).  Bedford  died  broken- 
hearted. Paris  opened  its  gates  to  its 
legitimate  king. 

CharWs  character  seemed  now  to 


Henry  VI ,  as  a  man,  had  little  more 
authority  than  as  a  child.  His  wife,  Mar- 
garet, was  the  daughter  of  Rene,  Duke  of 
Anjou.  The  English  opposed  this  mar- 
riage with  a  French  lady.  But  she  pos- 
sessed beauty  and  force  of  character, 
and,  for  years,  ruled  in  her  husband's 
name. 

A  formidoMe  Insurrection  broke  out 
(1450)  under  Jack  Cade,  who,  complaining 
of  bad  government,  the  king's  evil  ad- 


1450.]       RISE    OP    MODERN-    N  ATI  OIJ^S  — FRAN  CE.      369 


change.  He  seized  the  opportunity  to 
press  the  war  while  England  was  rent 
with  factions.  He  called  to  his  councils 
Richeraont  the  Constable,  and  the  famous 
merchant  Jacques  Coeur;  convened  the 
States-General ;  organized  a  regular 
army;  recovered  Normandy  and  Gas- 
cony  ;  and  sought  to  heal  the  wounds  and 
repair  the  disasters  of  the  long  war. 

End  of  the  Hundred- Years  War.— 
Step  by  step,  Charles  pushed  his  con- 
quests from  England.  -  Finally,  Talbot, 
the  last  and  bravest  of  the  English  cap- 
tains, fell  on  the  field  of  Castillon,  (1453), 
and  his  cause  fell  with  him.  It  was  the 
end  of  this  long  and  bitter  struggle. 
Soon,  of  all  the  patrimony  of  William  the 
Conqueror,  the  dower  of  Eleanor,  the 
conquests  of  Edward  III.  and  Henry  V., 
there  was  left  to  England  little  save  the 
city  of  Calais. 


visers,  taxes,  etc.,  led  a  peasant  host 
upon  London.  This  uprising  of  the  peo- 
ple was  put  down  only  after  bloodshed. 
The  nobles,  long  wont  to  enrich  them- 
selves by  the  plunder  of  France,  upon  the 
reverses  in  that  country,  found  England 
too  small  and  their  revenues  too  scant, 
and  so  struggled  for  place  at  home.  The 
Duke  of  York,  Protector  during  the  in- 
sanity of  the  king,  was  loath  to  yield 
power  on  his  recovery,  and  questions  of 
I  the  succession  became  rile.  The  claims 
'  of  the  house  of  York  were  supported  by 
the  Earl  of  Warwick— the  ' '  king-maker," 
the  most  powerful  nobleman  in  England. 
The  sky  was  black  with  the  coming  storm 
—the  W^ars  of  the  Roses.  The  king's 
longing  for  peace,  his  feebleness,  the  in- 
fluence of  the  queen,  the  rivalries  of  the 
nobles— all  weakened  the  English  rule  in 
France,  and  gave  Charles  his  opportunity. 


[Two  years  after  Talbot  fell,  England  was  desolated  by  the  Wars 
of  the  Roses.  Edward  IV,  deposed  Henry  VI.  the  same  year  that 
Charles  VII.  died  and  Louis  XI.  ascended  the  throne  ;  Richard  III.  and 
Charles  VIII.  were  contemporaneous  (1483),  but  English  and  French 
history  during  the  rest  of  the  15th  century  was  seldom  interwoven.] 


Triumph  of  Absolutism. — Louis  XL's  reign  marks  an 
epoch  in  French  history.  He  used  every  energy  of  his  cruel, 
crafty  mind,  and  scrupled  at  no  treachery  or  deceit,  to  over- 
throw Feudalism  and  bring  all  classes  in  subjection  to  the 
crown.  His  policy  of  centralization  restored  France  to  her 
former  position  in  Europe,  and  his  administration,  by  mak- 
ing roads  and  canals,  and  encouraging  manufactures  and 
education,  secured  the  internal  prosperity  of  the  country. 

The  Dukedom  of  Burgundy,  during  the  recent  troubles 
of  France,  had  gained  strength.  Comprising  the  duchy  of 
Burgundy  and  nearly  all  the  present  kingdoms  of  Belgium 
and  the  Netherlands,  it  threatened  to  become  an  independ- 
ent state  between  France  and  Germany.  Its  duke,  Charles 
the  Bold,  held  the  most  splendid  court  in  Europe.  Restless 
and  ambitious,  he  constantly  pursued  some  scheme  of  annex- 


370 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


[15th  cent. 


ation.  He  was  met, 
however,  on  every 
hand  by  Louis's 
craft.  Once  he  plan- 
ned with  Edward  IV. 
of  England  an  inva- 
sion of  France;  the 
English  army  again 
crossed  the  channel, 
but  Louis  feasted  the 
soldiers,  and,  finally, 
bribed  Edward  to  re- 
turn home.  Charles 
wanted  Lorraine  and 
Provence ;  his  rule 
in  Alsace  was  harsh  ; 
while  he  had  offend- 
ed the  Swiss.  Louis 
cunningly  contrived 
to  combine  these  va- 
rious enemies  against 
Charles.  The  ill-fated  duke  was  defeated  at  Granson,  Moral, 
and  Nancy  (1476-'7) ;  and,  after  the  last  battle,  his  body  was 
found  frozen  in  a  pool  of  water  by  the  roadside.  Thus 
ended  the  dream  of  a  Burgundian  kingdom.  Mary,  the 
daughter  of  Charles,  retained  his  lands  in  the  Low  Countries, 
but  France  secured  the  duchy  of  Burgundy. 

Consolidation  of  the  Kingdom. — Louis  also  added  to 
his  kingdom  Artois,  Provence,  Roussillon,  Maine,  Anjou, 
Franche.  Comte,  and  other  extensive  districts.  After  his 
death,  his  daughter,  Anne  of  Beaujeu,  who  was  appointed 
regent,  secured  for  her  brother,  Charles  VIII.,  the  hand  of 
Anne,  heiress  of  Brittany.     The  last  of  the  great  feudal 


BURGUNDY  ^ 

UNCEa 

CHARLES  THE  BOLD. 


1491.]      IIISE    OF    MODERN    KATIOKS  —  FRAKCE.       371 

states  between  the  Channel  and  the  Pyrenees  was  absorbed 
by  the  crown. 

As  the  Middle  Ages  closed,  France,  united  at  home,  was 
ready  to  enter  upon  schemes  of  conquest  abroad;  and  the 
power  of  the  king,  instead  of  being  spent  in  subduing  the 
vassals  of  the  crown,  was  free  to  assert  the  French  influence 
among  other  nations. 


EARLY    FRENCH     CIVILIZATION. 


^'^^ 


The  Gauls.— The  na- 
tive inhabitants  of  France 
were  Gauls,  or  Celts.  In 
earliest  times  they  dressed 
in  skins,  dyed  or  tattooed 
their  flesh,  drank  out  of  the 
skulls  of  their  enemies, 
worshiped  sticks,  stones, 
trees,  and  thunder,  and 
strangled  the  stranger 
wrecked  on  their  coast. 
But,  many  centuries  before 
the  Bomans  entered  Gaul, 
it  had  been  visited  by  the 
Phoenicians,  and  afterward 
by  the  Greeks,  who  left, 
especially  along  the  coast, 
some  traces  of  their  arts. 
The  Gauls  were  a  social, 
turbulent,  enthusiastic  race, 
less  truthf  u!  and  more  vain, 
more  imaginative  and  less 
enduring  than  their  neigh- 
bors— the  Germans.  Like 
them,  they  were  large,  fair- 
skinned,  and  yellow-haired. 
Noisy  and  fluent  in  speech, 
Cicero  compared  them  to  town-criers,  while  Cato  was  impressed  with 
their  tact  in  argument.  Fond  of  personal  display,  they  wore  their  hair 
long  and  flowing,  and  affected  showy  garments.     Their  chiefs  glittered 


.EARLY   INHABITANTS   OF   FRANCE. 


372 


MEDIEVAL     J>EOPtES. 


witli  jewelry,  and  delighted  in  huge  headpieces  of  fur  and  feathers, 
and  in  gold  and  silver  belts,  from  which  they  hung  immense  sabers. 

They  went  to  war  in  all  this  finery,  though  they  often  threw  it  oflP 
in  the  heat  of  battle.  Armed  with  barbed,  iron-headed  spears,  heavy 
broadswords,  lances,  and  arrows,  they  rushed  fiercely  on  their  foe, 
shouting  their  fearful  war-cry,  "  Off  with  their  heads."  Wildly  elated 
by  success,  they  were  as  greatly  depressed  by  defeat.  The  gregarious 
instinct  was  strong,  and,  with  the  Hebrew  tribe,  the  Greek  phratry,  the 
Roman  gens,  and  the  German  family,  may  be  classed — as,  perhaps,  the 
most  tenacious  and  exclusive  of  all — the  Celtic  Clan. 

Their  arts  were  suited  to  their  taste  for  show.  They  made  brilliant 
dyes  and  gaily-plaided  stuffs,  plated  metals,  veneered  woods,  wove  and 
embroidered  carpets,  and  adorned  their  cloaks  with  gold  and  silver 
wrought  ornaments.  Quick  to  assimilate,  they  gradually  took  on  all 
the  culture  and  refinements  of  their  Italian  conquerors,  until  the  round, 
wattled,  clay-plastered,  and  straw-thatched  hut  of  the  early  Gaul  was 
transformed  into  the  elegant  country  villa  or  sumptuous  town  residence 
of  the  Gallo-Roraan  gentleman. 

But  the  luxurious  Gallo-Roman  was  forced  to  yield  to  a  new  race  of 
conquerors — the  Franks,  or  Teutons.  And,  finally,  a  third  people — the 
Normans — left  its  impress  upon  the  French  character.  In  the  combined 
result  the  Gallic  traits  were  predominant,  and  are  evident  in  the  French- 
man of  to-day,  just  as,  across  the  Channel,  the  Teutonic  influences 
have  chiefly  molded  the  English  nation. 


PARIS   IN  THE  MIDDLE   AGES. 


RISE    OF    MODERJ^    NATIOJJfS  —  GEUMAifY.     373 


III.    GERMANY. 

Comparison  with  France. — The  later  Carlovingian 
kings  in  Germany  were  weak  as  in  France  ;  and  there,  also, 
during  the  terrible  Norseman  invasions.  Feudalism  took  deep 
root.  While  France  comprised  so  many  fiefs  governed  by 
nobles  almost  sovereign,  Germany  contained  five  separate 
nations  —  Franks,  Saxons,  Thuringians,  Bavarians,  and 
Swabians — whose  dukes  were  almost  independent  in  their 
realms.  In  France,  the  crown  gradually  absorbed  the  dif- 
ferent feudatories,  and  so  formed  one  powerful  kingdom; 
but  through  German  history  there  runs  no  such  connecting 
thread,  the  states  continuing  jealous,  disunited,  and  often 
hostile.  The  German  monarch  was  elective  and  not,  like 
the  French  king,  hereditary.  The  struggle  of  the  crown 
with  its  powerful  vassals  was  alike  in  both  countries,  but  the 
results  were  different.  While  the  descendants  of  Capet  held 
the  French  throne  for  eight  centuries,  the  German  dynasties 
were  short-lived.  Germany  had  no  central  capital  city,  like 
Paris,  around  which  the  national  sentiment  could  grow ;  and 
the  emperor  was  a  Bavarian,  a  Saxon,  but  never  permanently 
and  pre-eminently  a  German.  The  German  branch  of  the 
Carlovingian  line  ended  about  three-quarters  of  a  century 
earlier  than  the  French.  Conrad,  duke  of  the  Franks,  was 
elected  by  the  nobles,  and,  being  lifted  on  the  shield,  was 
hailed  king  (911).  After  a  troubled  reign,  with  singular 
nobleness  he  named  as  his  successor  his  chief  enemy,  Henry 
of  Saxony,  who  was  thereupon  chosen.*    He  inaugurated  the 

Saxon  Dynasty  (919-1024).— The  tribe  conquered  by 
Charlemagne  only  about  a  hundred  years  before  now  took 

♦  the  messenger  sent  to  inform  him  of  his  election  found  the  duke  catching 
finches,  whence  he  was  known  as  Henry  the  Fowler. 


374  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [IOtH  CENT. 

the  lead  in  German  affairs.  This  dynasty  embraced,  in  gen- 
eral, the  10th  century.  It  gave  to  the  throne  two  Henrys 
and  three  Ottos. 

HOUSE    OF    SAXONY. 

Henry  I.,  the  Fowler  (919-'36). 
Otto  I.,  the  Great  (936-'73). 


Otto  II.  (973-'83).  Henrt,  Duke  of  Bavaria. 

Otto  III.  (9&3-1002).  '  Henry.  Duke  of  Bavaria. 

Henry  II.  (1002-^24). 

The  Magyars,  a  barbarous  people  occupying  the  plains  of 
modern  Hungary,  were  the  dreaded  foe  of  the  empire.  More 
cruel  than  even  the  Norsemen,  they  were  believed  to  be  can- 
nibals, and  to  drink  the  blood  of  their  enemies.  They  had 
repeatedly  swept  across  Germany  to  the  Ehine,  burning  and 
slaying  without  mercy.  Henry  I.  and  his  son,  Otto  I., 
defeated  them  in  two  great  battles.  After  the  last  over- 
throw, the  Hungarians,  as  they  were  now  called,  from  taking 
the  lands  once  held  by  the  Huns,  settled  down  peaceably, 
and,  by  the  year  1000,  became  Christian.  On  the  adjacent 
frontier.  Otto  formed  a  military  province — the  Oster  (east) 
March — a  name  since  changed  to  Austria. 

The  Burghers. — Seeing  that  the  people  needed  strong 
places  for  their  protection  against  their  barbarous  enemies, 
Henry  founded  walled  towns  and  built  fortresses,  around 
which  villages  soon  grew  up.  He  also  ordered  every  ninth 
man  to  live  in  one  of  these  hurghs,  as  the  fortresses  were 
styled.  Hence  arose  the  burgher  class,  afterward  the  great 
support  of  the  crown  in  the  disputes  with  the  nobles. 

Otto  the  Great  (936-73),  like  his  father,  was  strong 
enough  to  hold  the  German  tribes  together  as  one  nation, 
and  wage  successful  war  against  the  Slaves,  Danes,  and  other 


951.]       RISE    OF   MODERN    NATION'S  —  GERMANY.  375 

heathen  neighbors  on  the  east  and  the  north.  Emulating 
the  glory  of  Charlemagne,  he  repeatedly  descended  into 
Italy,*  receiving  at  Milan  the  crown  of  the  Lombards,  and 
at  Eome  that  of  the  Caesars.     Thus  was  re-established 

The  Holy  Roman  Empire,  founded  in  the  golden  age  of 
the  Frankish  monarch.  Henceforth  the  kings  of  Germany 
claimed  to  be  kings  of  Lombardy  and  Homan  emperors,  and 
thought  little  of  their  royal  title  beside  the  imperial,  which 
gave  them,  as  the  head  of  Christendom  and  guardian  of  the 
faith  of  the  Catholic  church,  so  much  higher  honor.  But, 
in  protecting  their  Italian  interests,  the  emperors  wasted  the 
German  blood  and  treasure  that  should  have  been  devoted 
to  compacting  their  home  authority.  They  were  often  ab- 
sent for  years,  and  meanwhile  the  dukes,  margraves,  and 
counts  became  almost  sovereign  princes.  Thus  Germany, 
instead  of  growing  into  a  united  nation,  like  other  European 
peoples,  remained  a  group  of  almost  independent  states. 

The  Franconianf  Dynasty  (1024-1125)  embraced,  in 
general,  the  11th  century.  It  gave  to  the  throne  Gonrad  IL, 
and  Henry  III.,  IV.,  and  V. 

HOUSE    OF    FRANCONIA. 

Conrad  U.  (10M-'39). 
Henry  III.  (1039-'56). 
Henry  IV.  (1056-1106). 


Henbt  V.  (1106-25).  Agnes  married 

Frederick  of  Hohenstaupkn. 


*  There  is  a  gleam  of  romance  connected  with  Otto's  first  descent  into  Italy.  Lo- 
thaire,  king  of  that  distracted  country,  had  been  poisoned  by  Berengar,  a  brutal 
prince,  who,  in  order  to  secure  the  throne  of  Italy,  wished  to  marry  his  son  to  Adel- 
heid,  Lothaire's  young  and  beautiful  widow.  She  spurned  the  revolting  alliance, 
and,  escaping  from  the  loathsome  prison  where  she  was  confined,  appealed  to  Otto, 
who  defeated  Berengar,  and  afterward  married  Adelheid. 

t  The  Eastern,  or  Teutonic  Prancia  (Frankland),  is  termed  Pranconia,  to  distin- 
guish it  from  Western  Prancia,  or  France  (p.  335), 


376  MEDliEYAL     PEOPLES.  [Uth  CENT. 

Conrad  II.  (1024-'39)  annexed  to  the  empire  the  king- 
dom of  Burgundy,  thus  governing  three  of  the  four  great 
kingdoms  of  Charlemagne.     (Map,  p.  370.) 

Henry  III.  (1039-'56)  elevated  the  empire  to  its  glory, 
established  order,  and  sought  to  enforce  among  the  warring 
barons  the  Truce  of  God.*  He  was  early  called  to  Italy, 
where  three  candidates  claimed  the  papacy.  Henry  deposed 
them  all,  placing  four  Germans  successively  in  the  papal 
chair. 

Henry  IV.  (1056-1106)  was  only  six  years  old  at  his 
father's  death.  Never  taught  to  govern  himself  or  others, 
he  grew  up  to  be  fickle,  violent,  and  extravagant.  When,  at 
the  age  of  fifteen,  he  became  king,  his  court  was  a  scandal 
to  Germany.  Eeckless  companions  gathered  about  the 
youthful  monarch.  Ecclesiastical  offices  were  openly  sold. 
Women  were  to  be  seen  blazing  in  jewels  taken  from  the 
robes  of  the  priests.  His  misrule  provoked  the  fierce  Saxons 
to  revolt,  and  he  subdued  the  insurrection  only  with  great 
difficulty.     Then  came  the  peril  of  his  reign. 

Hildeirand,  the  son  of  a  poor  carpenter,  the  monk  of 
Cluny,  the  confidential  adviser  of  five  popes,  now  assumed 
the  tiara  as  Pope  Gregory  VII.  Saint-like  in  his  purity  of 
life,  iron-willed,  energetic,  eloquent,  he  was  resolved  to  re- 
form the  church,  and  make  it  supreme.  He  declared  that, 
having  apostolic  pre-eminence  over  kings,  he  could  give  and 
withhold  crowns  at  pleasure ;  that  ecclesiastic  offices  should 
not  be  sold ;  that  jio  prince  should  hold  a  priestly  office  ; 
that  no  priest  should  marry ;  and  that  the  pope  alone  had 
the  right  to  appoint  bishops  and  invest  them  with  the  ring 
and  staff — the  emblems  of  office. 

War  of  the  Investiture. — At  this  time  half  of  the  land  and 

*  This  ordered  the  sword  to  be  sheathed  each  week  between  Wednesday  evening 
and  Monday  morning,  on  pain  of  excommunication.    (Brief  Hist.  France,  p.  42.) 


1077.J     RISE    OF    MODERN    NATIONS  —  GERMANY.   377 

the  wealth  of  G-ermany  was  in  the  hands  of  abbots  and 
bishops.  To  resign  the  right  of  investiture  would  release 
them  from  paying  the  emperor  feudal  service,  and  make 
them  subject  to  the  pope.  Henry  therefore  treated  the  de- 
cree with  contempt,  and  summoned  at  Worms  a  synod  which 
deposed  the  pope ;  in  reply,  the  pope  excommunicated 
Henry,  and  released  his  subjects  from  their  allegiance.  Now 
Henry  reaped  the  fruit  of  his  folly  and  tyranny.  The  Ger- 
man princes,  glad  of  a  chance  to  humble  him,  threatened  to 
elect  a  new  king.  Cowed  by  this  general  defection,  Henry 
resolved  to  throw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  pope.  He  ac- 
cordingly crossed  the  Alps,  not,  as  his  predecessors  had  done, 
at  the  head  of  a  mighty  army,  but  as  a  suppliant,  with  his 
faithful  wife.  Bertha,  carrying  his  infant  son.  Eeaching 
Canossa,  the  king,  barefooted,  bareheaded,  and  clad  in 
penitent's  garb,  was  kept  standing  in  the  snow  at  the 
castle  gate  for  three  days  before  he  was  allowed  to  enter. 
Then,  after  yielding  all  to  Gregory,  he  received  the  kiss  of 
peace. 

But  this  did  not  allay  the  strife  in  Germany.  The  princes 
elected  Rudolph  of  Swabia  as  king,  and  Gregory  finally  rec- 
ognized the  rival  monarch.  Henry  now  pushed  on  the  war 
with  vigor  ;  slew  Rudolph  in  battle  ;  invaded  Italy ;  and 
appointed  a  new  pope.  Gregory,  forced  to  take  refuge 
among  the  Normans,  died  not  long  after  at  Salerno.  His 
last  words  were,  "I  have  loved  righteousness  and  hated 
iniquity;  therefore  I  die  in  exile."  Hildebrand's  successor, 
however,  pursued  his  plans.  The  tendency  of  the  best  minds 
in  Europe  was  toward  papal  supremacy.  Henry's  heart  was 
softened  by  misfortune,  and  experience  taught  him  wisdom  ; 
but  he  could  not  regain  his  power,  and  he  died  at  last,  de- 
throned by  his  unnatural  son. 

Henry  V.  (110G-'25),  on  taking  the  crown,  deserted  the 


GER3IAN  EMPIRE  M'^^^^i?       ^fi^^  ^J  5  ^^ 


JKAPLES'and  SICILY 

J/oi/  tht  tciU  0/  «i«  Tarp.  3lap 


HliH.\.t,  il\.. 


tTllVTI<i>I>.tCI»9S»  I 


1123.]       RISE    OF    MODERN    NATIONS  — GERM  AN  Y.    370 

papal  party,  and  stoutly  held  his  father's  position.  He  in- 
vaded Italy,  and  forced  Pope  Paschal  II.  to  crown  him  em- 
peror. But  no  sooner  had  Henry  recrossed  the  Alps,  than 
the  Pope  retracted  the  concessions  and  excommunicated 
him. 

The  Concordat  of  Worms- {112^)  finally  settled  the  difficulty 
by  a  compromise,  the  investiture  being  granted  to  the  pope, 
and  homage  for  land  to  the  emperor.  The  war  had  lasted 
nearly  half  a  century.  Though  Henry  was  now  at  peace 
with  the  church,  the  struggle  with  the  rebellious  nobles 
went  on  through  his  Life.  With  him  ended  the  Franconian 
line. 

Lothaire  II.  of  Saxony  was  elected  king  by  the  princes, 
and  crowned  emperor  by  the  pope ;  but,  after  a  brief  and 
stormy  reign,  the  crown  passed  to  Conrad  III.  of  Swabia, 
who  founded 

The  Hohenstaufen  Line  (1138-1254).— He  struggled 
long  with  the  Saxons  and  others  who  opposed  his  rule. 
During  the  siege  of  Weinsberg,*  the  rebels  raised  the  war- 
cry  of  Welf—thQ  name  of  their  leader ;  and  Conrad's  army, 
that  of  Waihlingen — the  birthplace  of  Frederick  of  Swabia, 
the  king's  brother.  These  cries,  corrupted  by  the  Italians 
into  Guelf  and  Ghihelline,  were  afterward  applied  to  the 
adherents  of  the  pope  and  the  emperor  respectively,  and 
for  centuries  resounded  from  the  MediteiTanean  to  the 
North  Sea.  Conrad,  first  of  the  German  emperors,  joined 
the  Crusaders  (p.  400).  He  died  as  he  was  preparing  to 
visit  Italy  to  be  crowned  emperor. 

*  Conrad,  upon  the  surrender  of  this  city,  resolved  to  destroy  it,  but  allowed  the 
women  to  take  with  them  such  valuables  as  they  could  carry.  When  the  gates  were 
thrown  open,  there  appeared  a  long  line  of  women,  each  staggering  beneath  the 
weight  of  her  husband  or  nearest  relative.  Conrad  was  so  aflfected  by  this  touching 
scene,  that  he  spared  the  city. 


380  MEDIEVAL     PKOPLES..  [1153. 


HOUSE    OF    HOHENSTAUFEN. 


CoNRAO  Ili.  (1138-'52).  Frederick  op  Swabia. 

Frederick  Barbarossa  (115a-'90). 


I  I 

Henrt  VI.  (1190-^97).  Philip  (1197-1208). 

FredLick  II.  (121&-'50).  tOTTO  IV.  (1209-1215).] 

Conrad  IV.  (1250-'54). 
C!onbadine  (Little  Conrad). 

Frederick  Barbarossa  (the  Eed  Beard),  Conrad  III.'s 
nephew,  was  unanimously  chosen  king.  He  proved  a 
worthy  successor  of  Charlemagne  and  Otto  L,  and  his  reign 
was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  the  annals  of  the  empire. 
He  wielded  the  royal  power  with  terrible  force,  established 
order,  controlled  the  dukes,  and  punished  the  robber-knights. 
The  phantom  of  the  empire,  however,  allured  him  into 
Italy.  Five  times  he  crossed  the  Alps  with  magnificent 
armies,  to  be  wasted  by  pestilence  and  the  sword.  He  was 
crowned  emperor,  but  only  after  he  had  consented  to  hold 
the  pope's  stirrup. 

The  Italian  cities,  grown  rich  and  powerful  during  the 
Crusades,  were  jealous  of  their  rights  and  independence. 
Frequent  wars  broke  out  among  them,  as  in  old  Greece,  and 
the  weaker  cities,  oppressed  by  the  stronger,  appealed  to  the 
emperor.  The  strife  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline  waxed  hot. 
Quarrels  arose  with  the  Holy  See.  Milan  was  taken  by 
Frederick  and  razed  to  the  ground.  The  Lombard  cities 
leagued  against  Frederick.  Finally,  after  years  of  strife,  the 
emperor,  beaten  on  the  decisive  field  of  Legnano  (1176), 
made  peace,  submitted  to  the  demands  of  the  pope,  and 
granted  the  Italian  cities  their  municipal  rights.  After 
this,  contentment  and  peace  marked  the  evening  of  Fred- 


1176.]      RISE    OF    MODERN    N^ATIONS  —  GERMANY.      381 

erick's  eventful  life.  He  perished  in  the  Third  Cru- 
sade.*    (Seep.  400.) 

Henry  VI.  (1190-'97),t  the  Cruel,  hastened  to  Italy  and 
was  crowned  emperor  at  Kome  ;  thence  he  invaded  Naples 
and  Sicily — the  inheritance  of  his  wife — where  his  rapacity 
recalled  the  days  of  the  Goths  and  Vandals.  His  name  is 
associated  with  Richard  the  Lion-hearted  (p.  401). 

Frederick  II.  (1215-50)  had  been  chosen  King  of  the 
Romans,  but  he  was  a  child  at  his  father's  death,  and  was 
.quite  overlooked  in  Germany,  where  rival  kings  were  elected. 
When  he  became  of  age,  the  Pope  called  on  the  German 
princes  to  elect  him  their  monarch.  He  was  accordingly 
crowned  king  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  emperor  at  Rome. 
His  genius  and  learning  made  him  "The  Wonder  of  the 
World."  He  spoke  in  six  languages,  was  versed  in  natural 
history  and  philosophy,  and  skilled  in  all  knightly  accom- 
plishments and  exercises.  More  Italian  than  Teuton,  he 
visited  Germany  only  once  during  tliirty  years,  loving  most 
to  surround  himself  with  poets,  artists,  and  philosophers, 
in  his  brilliant  Sicilian  court.  But  he  became  involved  in 
quarrels  with  one  pope  after  another  ;  he  was  twice  excom- 
municated; again  the  Italian  cities  raised  the  war-cry  of 
Guelf  and  Ghibelhne,  and  he  died  in  the  midst  of  the  long 
struggle  (p.  395). 

The  "Great  InterregimmJ'— Conrad  IV.  (1250-'4) 
was  the   last  Hohenstaufen   king   of   Germany.      Already 

*  One  day  while  marching  through  Syria,  false  news  was  brought  him  of  the 
death  of  his  son.  Tears  flowed  down  his  beard,  now  no  longer  red  but  white.  Sud- 
denly springing  up,  he  shouted,  '•  My  son  is  dead,  but  Christ  still  lives  !  Forward  !" 
—Tradition  says  that  the  Red  Beard  sleeps  with  his  knights  in  a  cavern  of  the  Kyff- 
hauser,  near  the  Hartz,  and  when  "  the  ravens  shall  cease  to  hover  about  the  moun- 
tain, and  the  pear  tree  shall  blossom  in  the  valley,"  then  he  shall  descend  at  the 
head  of  his  Crusaders,  bringing  back  to  Germany  the  golden  age  of  peace  and  unity. 
A  beautiful  dream,  the  substance  of  which  has  been  realized  in  our  own  day. 

t  Henry  had  already  been  chosen  successor  and  crowned  "  King  of  the  Romans  " 
— » titl^  tbencefortb  borne  by  one  thus  appointed  during  an  emperor's  lifetime. 


382 


MEDIiBVAL     PEOPLES. 


[13th  cent. 


rival  monarch s  had  been  chosen,  and,  after  him,  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  the  empire  had  no  recognized  head.  So  low 
did  German  patriotism  sink  that  at  one  time  the  crown 
was  offered  to  the  highest  bidder.  Order  became  unknown 
outside  of  city- walls.  Often  during  these  dark  days  did  the 
common  people  think  of  Barbarossa,  and  sigh  for  the  time 
when  he  should  awake  from  his  long  sleep  and  bring  back 


ROBBER  KNIGHTS  IN  AMBUSH. 


quiet  and  safety.  At  last,  even  the  selfish  barons  became 
convinced  that  Germany  could  not  do  without  a  govern- 
ment. The  leading  princes,  who  had  usurped  the  right  of 
choosing  the  king  and  were  hence  called  Electors  (p.  385), 
selected  Count  Rudolf  of  Hapshiirg  (1273-'91).  A  brave, 
noble-hearted  man,  he  sought  to  restore  order,  punish  the 
robber-knights,  and  abolish  private  wars. 

State  of  Germany. — The  independence  of  the  princes  had  now 
reached  its  height.  The  Hohenstaufens,  vainly  grasping  after  power  in 
Italy,  had  neglected  their  German  interests,  and  Frederick  II.,  for  the 


RISE    OF    MODERN    NATIONS  —  GERMANY.         383 

sake  of  peace,  even  confirmed  the  princes  in  the  right  they  had  usurped. 
There  were  in  Germany  over  sixty  free  cities,  one  hundred  dukes, 
counts,  etc.,  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen  spiritual  rulers — in  all  more 
than  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  separate  powers.  In  proof  of  the 
arrogance  of  the  nobles,  it  is  said  that  a  certain  knight,  receiving  a 
visit  from  Barbarossa,  remained  seated  in  the  emperor's  presence,  saying 
that  he  held  his  lauds  in  fee  of  the  sun. 

Each  nobleman  claimed  the  right  of  waging  war,  and,  in  the  little 
district  about  his  castle,  was  a  law  to  himself.  When  at  peace  with 
the  neighboring  lords,  he  spent  his  time  in  the  chase— tramping  over 
the  crops,  and  scouring  through  the  woods,  with  his  retainers  and 
dogs.  In  war  he  watched  for  his  foes,  or  attacked  some  merchant-train 
going  to  or  from  a  city  with  which  he  was  at  feud.  Robber-knights 
sallied  out  from  their  mountain  fastnesses  upon  the  peaceful  traveler, 
and,  escaping  with  their  booty  to  their  strongholds,  bade  defiance  to 
the  feeble  power  of  the  law. 

The  peasants,  more  than  others,  needed  a  central  power,  able  to 
keep  the  public  peace  and  enforce  justice.  They  were  still  feudal 
tenants.  There  was  no  one  to  hear  their  complaints  nor  redress  their 
wrongs.  The  lords,  encroaching  more  and  more  upon  their  ancient 
privileges,  had  robbed  them  of  their  common  rights  over  the  pastures, 
the  wild  game,  and  the  fish  in  tho  streams,  until  the  peasants  had  be- 
come almost  slaves.  In  fine  weather,  they  were  forced  to  work  for 
their  lord,  while  their  own  little  crops  were  to  be  cared  for  on  rainy 
days.  Even  during  their  holidays  they  were  required  to  perform 
various  services  for  the  people  at  the  castle.  Time  and  again  they  rose 
to  arms,  and,  elevating  the  bundschuh,  or  peasant's  clog,  struck  for 
liberty.  But  the  nobles  and  knightly-orders  combining,  always  crushed 
the  insurrection  with  terrible  ferocity. 

The  Feme  was  a  tribunal  of  justice  that  sprang  up  in  .Westphalia 
from  the  old  Courts  of  Counts  that  Charlemagne  established;  During 
these  troublous  times  it  attained  great  power  and  spread  far  and  wide, 
appeals  being  made  to  it  from  all  parts  of  Germany.  Its  proceedings 
were  secret,  and  the  deliberations  were  often  held  in  desolate  places, 
or  in  some  ancient  seat  of  justice,  as  the  famous  Linden-tree  at  Dort-" 
mund.  The  death-sentence  was  always  secretly  and  mysteriously 
executed;  the  dagger,  having  the  symbol  of  the  Feme,  being  plunged 
into  the  body,  told  how  the  avenging  hand  of  justice  had  overtaken 
the  criminal. 

The  Growth  of  the  Cities  was  a  characteristic  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  They  formed  a  powerful  restraint  upon  the  feudal  lords.  Each 
city  was  a  little  free  state,  fortified  and  provisioned  for  a  siege.  Behind 
its  walls  the  old  German  love  of  liberty  flourished,  and  views  of  life 
were  cherished  quite  different  from  those  of  the  castle  and  the  court. 
The  petty  quarrels  of  the  barons  disturbed  the  public  peace,  injured 


384  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [13th  CBNT. 

trade,  and  forced  the  merchants  to  guard  their  convoys  of  goods.  The 
vassals,  constantly  escaping  from  the  lords  and  taking  refuge  in  the 
towns,  were  a  continual  source  of  difference.  There  was,  therefore, 
almost  perpetual  war  between  the  cities  and  the  nobles.  The  cities, 
compelled  to  ally  themselves  for  mutual  protection,  became  more  and 
more  a  power  in  the  land.  The  Rhenish  League  comprised  seventy 
towns,  and  the  ruins  of  the  robber-knights'  fastnesses  destroyed  by  its 
forces,  still  exist  along  the  Rhine,  picturesque  memorials  of  those  law- 
less times.  The  Hanseatic  League,  at  one  period,  numbered  over  eighty 
cities,  had  its  own  fleets  and  armies,  and  was  respected  by  foreign 
kings.  The  emperors,  finding  in  the  strength  of  the  cities  a  bulwark 
against  the  bishops  and  the  princes,  constantly  extended  the  municipal 
rights  and  privileges.  The  free  cities  had  the  emperor  for  their  lord, 
were  released  from  other  feudal  obligations,  and  made  their  own  laws, 
subject  only  to  his  approval.  Every  citizen  was  a  freeman,  bore  arms, 
and  was  eligible  to  knighthood.  Manufactures  and  trade  throve  in  the 
favoring  air  of  freedom,  and  merchant-princes  became  the  equals  of 
hereditary  nobles. 

[From  the  middle  of  the  13th  to  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century, 
Germany  was  unfruitful  of  great  men  or  great  events.  Its  history  for 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  presents  only  a  few  points  of  interest. 
The  high  dignity  of  the  empire  ended  with  the  Hohenstaufens.  Hence- 
forth its  strongest  monarchs  were  little  more  than  German  kings. 
They  rarely  ventured  to  cross  the  Alps,  and,  when  they  did  so,  pro- 
duced only  a  transient  effect ;  in  time,  they  assumed  the  title  of  em- 
peror without  the  cx)ronation  by  the  pope.  Italy  fell  away  from  the 
imperial  control,  and  Burgundy  dropped  into  the  outstretched  hands  of 
France.] 

Hapsburg  or  Austrian  Line.* — Eudolf  renounced  the 
rights  of  the  Hohenstaufens  in  Italy,  declaring  that  Eome 
was  like  a  lion's  den,  to  which  the  tracks  of  many  animals 
led,  but  from  which  none  returned.  Having  acquired  Aus- 
tria, Styria,  and  Carniola,  he  conferred  these  provinces  on 
his  son,  Albert  I.  (1298-1308),  thus  laying  the  foundation  of 
the  future  greatness  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  or  Austria. 
From  the  time  of  Albert  IL  (1438-'9)  until  Napoleon  broke 
up  the  empire  (p.  563),  the  electors  chose  as  emperors,  with 

*  The  House  of  Hapsburg  was  so  oaioed  from  Budolfs  qastle  upon  the  ^wnks  of 
the  AftT  m  Switzerland. 


1414.]       RISE    OF    MODEHN^    NATIONS  —  GERMANY.     385 

a  single  exception,  a  member  of  this  family,  and  generally 
its  liead.  Thus  Austria  gave  its  strength  to  the  empire, 
and,  in  turn,  the  empire  gave  its  dignity  to  the  Hapsburgs. 
Albert's  father-in-law,  Sigismund  (1410-37),  before  he  was 
raised  to  the  imperial  throne,  was  King  of  Hungary,  and 
then  began  the  close  connection  of  Austria  with  that  court. 

The  Golden  Bull  (1356)*  was  a  charter  granted  by 
Charles  IV.,  fixing  the  electors,  and  the  mode  of  choosing 
the  emperors.  It  confirmed  the  custom  of  having  seven 
electors — four  temporal  and  three  spiritual  lords.  The  elec- 
tion was  to  take  place  at  Frankfort  and  the  coronation  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle.  The  electors  were  granted  sovereign  rights 
within  their  territories,  their  persons  declared  sacred,  and 
appeals  to  the  emperor  denied,  ^save  when  justice  was  refused. 
This  decree  diminished  the  confusion  which  had  hitherto 
attended  the  election  of  king,  but  it  made  the  electors  the 
most  powerful  persons  in  the  empire,  and  perpetuated  the 
fatal  divisions  of  Germany.  In  the  striking  words  of  Bryce, 
"  It  legalized  anarchy,  and  called  it  a  constitution." 

The  first  university  of  Germany  was  founded  at  Prague  by 
Charles  IV.;  it  became  so  famous  as  soon  to  number  seven 
thousand  students. 

The  Council  of  Constance  (1414)  was  called  by  Sigis- 
mund, following  the  example  of  Constantine  in  convening 
the  famous  Council  of  Nice  (p.  265).  The  object  was  to 
reform  the  church.  This  was  the  era  of  the  "Great 
Schism."  There  were  three  popes,  and  their  rivalries  caused 
general  scandal.  Eighteen  thousand  clergymen,  including 
cardinals  and  bishops,  with  a  vast  concourse  of  the  chief 
vassals  of  the  crown,  learned  men,  knights,  and  ambassadors 
from  the  Christian  powers,  were  present.  The  popes  were 
all  deposed,  and  a  new  one,  Martin  V.,  was  chosen. 

*  So-named  from  the  knob  of  gold  (bxUla  aurea)  in  which  its  seal  was  enclosed. 


386  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [15th  CENT. 

John  Huss,  rector  of  the  university  at  Prague,  who  had 
adopted  the  views  of  Wycliffe,  the  English  reformer,  and 
attacked  certain  doctrines  of  the  church,  was  summoned  to 
appear  before  the  Council.  Under  a  safe-conduct  from  the 
emperor,  Huss  came ;  but  was  tried,  convicted  of  heresy, 
and  burned  at  the  stake  (1415).*  His  ashes  were  thrown 
into  the  Ehine,  to  prevent  his  followers  from  gathering 
them.  The  next  year,  Jerome  of  Prague,  who  brought 
Wycliffe's  writings  to  the  university,  suffered  death  in  the 
same  place. 

Hussite  War  (1419-'35). — The  Bohemians,  roused  to 
fury  by  the  death  of  their  favorite  teacher  and  by  subse- 
quent persecutions,  flew  to  arms.  Under  Ziska,  "  the  one- 
eyed,"  they  learned  to  strike  unerringly  with  their  farmers* 
flails,  to  wield  heavy  iron  maces,  and  to  shelter  themselves 
behind  wagons  bound  with  chains.  The  emperor's  troops 
fled  before  them,  often  without  a  blow.  It  was  sixteen 
years  before  Bohemia  was  subdued. 

House  of  HohenzoUem. — Sigismund  being  in  want  of 
money,  sold  Brandenburg  and  its  electoral  dignity  for  four 
hundred  thousand  gold  florins,  to  Frederick,  Count  of 
Hohenzollern  (1415).  The  new  elector  vigorously  ruled  his 
possession,  with  gunpowder  battered  down  the  "  castle  walls, 
fourteen  feet  thick,"  of  the  robber-knights,  and  restored 
order  and  quiet.  His  descendants  to-day  occupy  the  throne 
of  Prussia. 

The  Diet  of  Worms  (1495),  summoned  by  Maximilian 

*  When  addressing  the  council,  Sigismund  said,  "Date  operam,  ut  ilia  nefanda 
schisma  e'radicetur."  Upon  a  cardinal  remarking  to  him  that  "schisma"  is  of  the 
neuter  gender,  he  replied,  "I  am  king  of  the  Romans  and  above  grammar  1  "—When 
the  executioner  was  about  to  light  the  pile  from  behind,  Jerome  called  out,  "  Set  in 
front;  had  I  dreaded  fire  1  should  not  have  been  here."  Sylvius  (afterward  Pope 
Pius  n.),  in  his  Histoiy  of  Bohemia,  says,  "  Both  Huss  and  Jerome  made  haste  to 
the  fire  as  if  they  were  invited  to  a  feast ;  when  they  began  to  burn  they  sang  a 
hymn,  and  scarcely  could  the  flames  and  the  crackling  of  the  fire  stop  their 
singing." 


RISE    OF    MODERK    I^ATIOKS — SWITZERLAND.     387 

(1493-1519),  decreed  a  Perpetual  Peace,  abolished  the  right 
of  private  war,  and  established  the  Imperial  Chamber  of 
Justice^  with  power  to  declare  the  ban  of  the  empire.  In 
order  to  carry  out  the  decisions  of  this  body,  Maximilian 
divided  the  empire  into  Ten  Circles,  each  having  its  tribunal 
for  settling  disputes.  He  also  founded  the  Aulic  Council  or 
court  of  appeal  from  the  lower  courts  in  Germany.  The  old 
Eoman  law  rapidly  came  into  use  in  these  tribunals.  There 
was  now  a  promise  of  order  in  this  distracted  country. 

Ma^milian's  Marriage  with  Mary  of  Burgundy,  the 
beautiful  daughter  of  Charles  the  Bold  (p.  370),  added  her 
rich  dower  to  the  House  of  Austria. 

The  End  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  marked  by  the  reign 
of  Maximilian,  and  this  monarch  is  known  in  German 
history  as  the  "Last  of  tlie  knights."  Gunpowder  had 
changed  the  character  of  war,  printing  was  invented,  feudal 
forms  and  forces  were  dying  out,  and  the  Reformation  was 
coming  on  apace. 

IV.     SWITZERLAND. 

Origin. — The  confederation  of  the  three  Forest  Cantons — 
Schwyz,  Uri,  and  Unterwalden — clustered  about  the  beaitti- 
ful  lake  of  Lucerne,  was  the  germ  of  Switzerland.  They  were 
German  lands  owing  allegiance  to  the  emperor,  and  their 
league  for  mutual  defence  was  like  that  of  other  districts 
and  cities  of  the  empire.  Rudolf,  himself  a  Swiss  count, 
liud  estates  in  these  cantons,  and,  being  popular  with  his 
former  neighbors,  was  chosen  as  their  protector ;  but  the 
tyranny  of  his  son  Albert,  the  duke  of  Austria,  when 
he  became  emperor,  roused  these  brave  mountaineers  to 
assert  their  independence.*  Three  great  battles  mark  the 
successive  stages  in  their  struggle  for  liberty. 

*  One  November  night  in  1307,  a  little  company  met  under  the  open  sky  and 


388  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 

Battle  of  Morgarten  (1315).— Albert  was  assassinated 
while  marching  to  crush  the  rising,  but  his  successor 
Leopold,  duke  of  Austria,  invaded  Switzerland  with  an  army 
of  fifteen  thousand  men,  ostentatiously  bearing  ropes  for 
hanging  the  chief  rebels.  The  Swiss,  only  thirteen  hundred 
in  all,  after  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  took  post  in  the 
defile  of  Morgarten  —  the  Thermopylae  of  Switzerland. 
Fifty  outlaws,  denied  the  privilege  of  fighting  with  the 
main  body,  were  stationed  on  a  cliff  overlooking  the 
entrance.  When  the  heavy-armed  cavalry  were  well  in  the 
pass,  the  band  of  exiles  suddenly  let  fall  an  avalanche  of 
stones  and  timber.  This  throwing  the  Austrian  column 
into  confusion,  the  Swiss  rushed  down  with  their  halberts 
and  iron-shod  clubs.  The  flower  of  the  Austrian  chivalry 
fell  on  that  ill-fated  day.  Leopold  himself  escaped  only  by 
the  aid  of  a  peasant,  who  led  him  through  by-paths  over 
the  mountain. 

Battle  of  Sempach  (1386). — About  seventy  years  passed 
when  Leopold — a  nephew  of  the  one  who  fought  at  Mor- 
garten— sought  to  subdue  the  League.  He  found  the  patriots 
posted  near  the  little  lake  of  Sempach.  The  Austrian 
knights,  dismounting,  formed  a  solid  body  clad  in  armor 
from  head  to  foot,  and  with  long  projecting  spears.     The 

Boleintily  swore  to  defend  their  liberty.  This  was  the  birthday  of  Swiss  independ- 
ence. The  next  New  Year's  was  fixed  for  the  uprising.  Meanwhile  Gessler,  an  Aus- 
trian governor,  set  up  a  hat  in  the  market-place  of  Altorf  and  commanded  all  to  bow 
to  it  in  homage.  William  Tell,  passing  by  with  his  little  son,  refused  this  obeisance. 
Brought  before  Gessler,  he  was  doomed  to  die  unless  he  could  shoot  an  arrow 
through  an  apple  placed  on  his  boy's  head.  Tell  pierced  the  apple,  but  the  tyrant, 
noticing  a  second  arrow  concealed  in  his  belt,  asked  its  purpose.  "  For  thee,"  was 
the  reply,  "  if  the  first  had  struck  my  son."  Enraged,  Gessler  ordered  him  to  a 
prison  upon  the  opposite  shore  of  the  lake.  While  crossing,  a  storm  arose,  and  in 
the  extremity  of  the  danger  Gessler  unloosed  Tell,  hoping  by  his  skill  to  reach  land. 
As  they  neared  the  rocky  shore,  Tell  leaped  out,  and,  hiding  in  the  glen,  shot  Gess- 
ler as  he  passed.— This  romantic  story  is  thought  by  critics  to  have  been,  at  least, 
much  adorned  by  tradition,  but  the  memory  of  Tell  is  still  dear  to  the  Swiss,  and 
every  traveler  in  that  land  is  shown  the  chapel  that  stands  upon  the  rock  to  which 
the  hero  leaped  from  Gessler's  boat. 


KISE    OF    MODERK    NATIONS  —  SWITZERLAND.    389 

Swiss,  first  dropping  on  their  knees  and  offering  prayer, 
advanced  to  the  charge.  But  the  forest  of  spears  resisted 
every  attack.  Sixty  of  their  httle  band  had  fallen,  and  not 
one  of  the  enemy  had  received  a  wound.  At  this  crisis, 
Arnold  Von  Winkelried  rushed  forward,  shouting,  "I  will 
open  a  way ;  take  care  of  my  wife  and  children."  Then,  sud- 
denly gathering  in  his  arms  as  many  spears  as  he  could  reach, 
he  buried  them  in  his  bosom  and  bore  them  to  the  ground. 
The  wall  of  steel  was  broken.  His  comrades  rushed  over 
his  body  to  victory. 

Another  triumph  at  Ndfels,  two  years  later,  and  the  Swiss 
confederates  were  left  undisturbed  for  many  years. 

GroTvth  of  the  Confederacy. — Lucerne,  Berne,  and 
other  cities,  early  joined  the  League;  in  the  middle  of 
the  14th  century  it  comprised  the  so-called  Eight  Ancient 
Cantons.  The  victory  over  Charles  the  Bold  greatly 
strengthened  the  Swiss  Confederation.  Swiss  soldiers  were 
henceforth  in  demand,  and  thousands  left  the  homely  fare 
and  honest  simplicity  of  their  native  land,  to  enlist  as  mer- 
cenaries under  the  banners  of  neighboring  princes. 

At  the  end  of  the  15th  century,  •  Maximilian  sought  to 
restore  the  imperial  authority  over  the  Swiss,  but  failed,  and 
by  an  honorable  peace  practically  acknowledged  their  inde- 
pendence, though  it  was  not  formally  granted  until  the 
Treaty  of  Westphalia  (p.  485).* 

*  It  is  curious  that  though  the  names  Swiss  and  Switzerland,  derived  from  that 
of  the  chief  canton,  early  came  into  use,  they  were  not  formally  adopted  until  the 
present  century. 


390  MEDIAEVAL     PEOPLES. 


ITALY  IN  THE   MIDDLE   AG-ES. 

Italy  in  the  10th  Century,  after  the  fall  of  the  Car- 
lovingians,  was  a  scene  of  frightful  disorder.  A  crowd  of 
petty  sovereignties  sprang  up,  and  the  rival  dukes  disputed 
for  their  titles  with  dagger  and  poison.  When  Otto  the 
Great  restored  the  Holy  Eoman  Empire,  the  fortunes  of 
Italy  became  blended  with  those  of  Germany.  During  the 
long  contest  between  the  pope  and  the  emperor,  the  feudal 
lords  and  the  cities  sided  with  either  as  best  suited  their 
interest.  For  centuries  the  strife  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline 
convulsed  the  peninsula. 

Power  of  the  Popes. — We  have  seen  how,  upon,  the 
ruins  of  pagan  Eome,  the  church  founded  a  new  emj)ire. 
Many  causes  combined  to  extend  her  power.  Amid  the 
gloom  of  the  Dark  Ages,  the  lights  of  learning  and  piety 
burned  brightly  within  monastery  walls.  The  convents  and 
their  lands  were  isles  of  peace  in  a  sea  of  violence  and  wrong. 
The  monks  of  St.  Benedict  divided  their  time  among  acts 
of  devotion,  copying  of  manuscripts,  and  tilling  of  land. 
Education  was  almost  forgotten  by  the  laity.  The  clergy 
alone  could  read  and  write,  as  well  as  use  the  Latin  lan- 
guage— then  the  general  medium  of  communication  among 
different  nations.  Priests  were  therefore  the  teachers,  secre- 
taries, and  ambassadors  of  kings. 

The  church  afforded  a  refuge  to  the  oppressed.  None 
was  too  lowdy  for  her  sympathy,  while  the  humblest  man 
in  her  ranks  could  rise  to  the  highest  office  of  trust  and 
honor.  When  Feudalism  was  triumphant  and  kings  were  too 
weak  and  men  too  ignorant  to  oppose  it,  hers  was  the  only 
power  that  could  restrain  the  fierce  baron,  and  enforce  the 
Truce  of  God.     With  the  gift  of  Pepin,  the  pope  became  a 


1000.]  ITALY     IN     THE     MIDDLE     AGES.  391 

political  prince,  and  as  such  continued  to  extend  his  Italian 
possessions. 

The  11th  century  brought  a  great  increase  of  papal  power. 
A  current  belief  (founded  on  Eev.  xx.  1-7)  that  the  world 
would  come  to  an  end  in  the  year  1000,  checked  the  ravages 
of  war.  Lands  and  money  were  freely  bestowed  upon  the 
church,  and  when  the  time  passed  and  the  world  still  stood, 
men's  hearts,  touched  even  through  their  coats  of  mail, 
softened  with  gratitude,  and  king  and  lord  vied  in  erecting 
magnificent  cathedrals,  whose  ruins  are  to-day  the  admira- 
tion of  the  world.  The  Crusades  also  greatly  strengthened 
the  power  of  the  pope  (p.  397). 

For  centuries  a  command  from  Rome  was  obeyed  through- 
out Christendom.  When  Pepin  wished  to  depose  the  do- 
nothing  sovereign,  he  appealed  to  Rome  for  permission; 
when  Charlemagne  Avas  to  take  the  title  of  emperor,  it 
was  the  pope  who  placed  the  crown  upon  his  head ;  when 
William  the  Conqueror  desired  to  invade  England,  he  first 
secured  permission  from  the  pope ;  when  Henry  II.  longed 
for  Ireland,  Adrian  IV.  granted  it  to  him  on  the  ground 
that  all  islands  belonged  to  the  Holy  See;  and  so  late 
even  as  1493,  Pope  Alexander  VI.  divided  between  the 
Spanish  and  the  Portuguese  their  discoveries  in  the  New 
World. 

The  papal  power,  however,  reached  its  zenith  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  13th  century,  under  Innocent  III.  He  acquired 
independent  sovereignty  in  Italy,  gave  to  Peter  of  Aragon 
his  kingdom  as  a  fief,  compelled  Philip  Augustus  of  France 
to  receive  back  the  wife  he  had  put  away,  crushed  the 
Albigenses,  and  imposed  a  tribute  upon  John  of  England. 
He  claimed  to  be  an  earthly  king  of  kings,  and  the  papal 
thunder,  enjoining  peace  and  punishing  public  and  private 
offences,  rolled  over  every  nation  in  Europe. 


392  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 

The  decline  of  the  papal  power  was  made  evident  in  the 
14th  century  by  the  residence  of  the  popes  in  France,  known 
in  church  history  as  the  Babylonish  captivity  (1305-77), 
Thus,  the  contest  between  Boniface  YIII.  and  Philip  IV. 
ended  very  differently  from  the  War  of  Investiture  between 
Henry  IV.  and  Gregory  VII. 

The  15th  century  is  noted  for  its  ecclesiastical  councils, 
which  gave  to  the  monarch  a  court  of  appeal  from  the 
decisions  of  the  Holy  See.  The  councils  of  Constance  and 
Bdle  sought  to  change  the  government  of  the  church  from 
an  absolute  to  a  limited  sovereignty.  Charles  VII.  o,f 
France,  by  a  national  assembly,  adopted  several  decrees  of 
the  latter  council ;  and  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  as  this  was 
termed,  rendered  the  Galilean  church  more  independent  and 
national.  The  tendency  to  curb  the  papal  authority,  a  pre- 
cursor of  the  Eeformation,  was  now  rife  throughout  Europe. 
The  weakness  caused  by  the  Great  Schism  invited  opposi- 
tion, and  Rome  was  forced  to  confine  its  political  action 
mainly  to  Italian  affairs. 

Italian  Cities. — With  the  decline  of  the  imperial  rule  in 
Italy,  many  of  its  cities,  like  those  of  Old  Greece,  became 
free,  strong,  and  powerful.  Four  especially,  Venice,  Flor- 
ence, Pisa,  and  Genoa,  attained  great  importance.  The 
Italian  ships  brought  thither  the  rich  products  of  the  East, 
and  her  merchants,  called  Lombards,*  distributed  tiiem 
over  Europe.  The  trading  princes  of  Genoa  and  Venice 
controlled  the  money  of  the  world,  and  became  the  first 
bankers — the  bank  of  Venice  dating  from  1171.  The 
progress  of  commerce  and  manufacture  made  these  cities, 
in  the  elegance  of  their  buildings  and  the  extent  of  their 

*  The  street  in  London  where  these  merchants  settled,  is  still  known  as  Lom- 
bard Street.  The  three  balls— the  sign  of  a  pawnbroker's  shop— are  the  arms 
of  Lombardy,  being  assumed  when  the  Lombards  were  the  money-lenders  of  Eu- 
rope. 


ITALY     IN     THE     MIDDLE     AGES. 


393 


wealth,  the  rivals  of  any  nation  of  their  time,  and  their 
alliance  was  eagerly  sought  y^ir\  -, 

by    the    most    powerful  /   >»  ^-^^  .^ 

kings. 

Venice  Avas  founded  in 
the  5th  century  by  refu- 
gees from  Attila's  invasion 


of  Italy  (p.  269)  ;  her  ruler  was  a 
Doge ;  her  patron  saint  was  St. 
Mark.  The  Queen  of  the  Adriatic 
early  became  a  great  naval  power, 
rendered  valuable  assistance  in 
transporting  the  Crusaders,  carried 
on  sanguinary  wars  with  Genoa, 
and  finally  reigned  supreme  in  the  Mediterranean. 


394  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 

In  the  14th  and  15th  centuries  the  government  grew  into 
an  oppressive  oligarchy,  the  secret  Council  of  Ten,  like  the 
Spartan  Ephors,  controlling  the  Doge  and  holding  the 
threads  of  life  and  death.  The  dagger,  the  poisoned  ring, 
the  close  gondola,  the  deep  silent  canal,  the  Bridge  of  Sighs, 
and  the  secret  cell  beyond — all  linger  in  the  mysterious  his- 
tory of  the  time.  But  the  golden  period  of  her  commerce 
passed  when  Vasco  da  Gama  rounded  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  discovered  a  new  route  to  the  Indies. 

Florence,  originally  a  colony  of  Roman  soldiers,  in  the 
13th  century  became  one  of  the  chief  cities  of  Italy.  While 
Venice,  like  Sparta  of  old,  had  an  aristocratic  government, 
that  of  Florence  resembled  democratic  Athens.  The  Floren- 
tine jewellers,  goldsmiths,  and  bankers  brought  the  city 
renown  and  wealth.  The  citizens  were  curiously  organized 
into  companies  or  guilds  of  the  different  trades  and  profes- 
sions, with  consuls,  banners,  and  rules  of  government.  In 
case  of  any  disturbance,  the  members  rallied  about  their 
respective  standards.* 

The  Family  of  the  Medici  {med'e-che),  during  the  15th 
century,  obtained  control  in  the  state,  though  without 
changing  the  form  of  government.  Cosmo  de'  Medici — the 
"  father  of  his  country,"  his  grandson — Lorenzo  the  Mag- 
nificent, and  Giovanni — better  known  as  Pope  Leo  X.,f 
patronized  literary  men  and  artists,  encouraged  the  copying 
of  manuscripts,  and  revived  a  knowledge  of  the  treasures  of 

*  The  city  was  rent  by  fractional  feuds  not  only  of  the  Ghibellincs  and  Guelfs,  but 
also  of  the  Gnelfs  themselves,  who  were  divided  into  two  parties— Whites  and 
Blacks.  These  were  constantly  fighting,  and  besieging  each  other's  housdfe.  Here, 
as  well  as  elsewhere  in  Italy,  the  mansions  of  the  nobles  were  fortresses,  massively 
built  of  masonry,  often  fUrnished  with  lofty  towers,  and  having,  instead  of  windows 
below,  only  apertures  covered  by  huge,  wrought-iron  grates. 

t  Pope  Leo,  in  order  to  complete  the  building  of  the  magnificent  cathedral  of  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome  authorized  the  sale  of  the  indulgences  that  kindled  the  fires  of  the 
Reformation.  Thus  the  Medici  love  of  art  and  the  grandeur  of  St.  Peter's  are  india- 
Bolubly  connected  with  the  establishment  of  the  Protestant  religion. 


ITALY     13^     THE     MIDDLE     AGES-.  395 

Grecian  architecture,  sculpture,  poetry,  and  philosophy. 
The  study  of  the  antique  masterpieces  led  to  the  founding 
of  a  nevy  school  of  art,  known  as  the  Italian  Renaissance. 
In  this  brilliant  period  of  Florentine  history  flourished 
Michael  Angelo — poet,  sculptor,  and  painter;  the  renowned 
artists,  Raphael  and  Leonardo  di  Vinci  ;  and  the  famous 
reformer,  Savonarola,  afterward  burned  for  heresy. 

The  Ttvo  Sicilies.  —  After  Charlemagne's  time,  the 
Arabs  conquered  Sicily.  In  the  11th  century — that  era  of 
Norman  adventure — the  Normans  invaded  Southern  Italy, 
and  seized  the  lands  held  by  the  Saracens  and  the  Eastern 
emperor'  They  finally  subdued  Naples  and  Sicily,  and 
founded  the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies  :  so  a  "  French- 
speaking  king  ruled  over  Arabic-speaking  Mohammedans 
and  Greek-speaking  Christians." 

The  crown  was  transferred  to  the  Hohenstaufens  by  the 
marriage  of  its  heiress,  Constance,  to  the  emperor  Henry  VI. 
The  polished  court  of  Frederick  II.  made  Naples  the  centre 
of  civilization  and  culture,  but  the  youthful  Conradin — the 
last  heir  of  the  Hohenstaufens — perished  on  the  scafibld  in 
its  market-place,  in  full  sight  of  the  beautiful  inheritance  he 
had  lost  so  untimely. 

Tlie  kingdom  then  fell  to  the  papal  nominee,  Charles  of 
Anjou,  brother  of  Saint  Louis  of  France.  The  Sicilians, 
however,  hated  the  French  for  their  tyranny  ;  and  one  day 
a  soldier,  by  insulting  a  bride  in  the  cathedral,  enraged  the 
populace  to  a  revolt.  As  the  vesper-bell  rang  on  Easter 
Monday,  1282  (a  date  known  as  that  of  the  Sicilian  Vespers), 
the  ever-ready  Italian  stiletto  leaped  from  its  sheath ;  scarcely 
a  Frenchman  survived  the  horrible  massacre  that  followed. 
The  Two  Sicilies  afterward  remained  separate  until  (1435) 
they  were  united  under  Alfonso  V.  of  Aragon. 

Rome  was  naturally  the  focus  of  the  long  strife  between 


396 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


Ghibellines  and  Guelfs,  and  thither  the  German  kings  came, 
arms  in  hand,  to  demand  the  imperial  crown.  During  the 
Babylonish  captivity,  the  city  was  convulsed  by  deadly 
feuds  between  the  noble  families  of  the  Orsini,  Colonna,  and 

Savelli.  The 
famous  monu- 
ments of  the 
elder  Eome — 
the  Arch  of 
Titus  and  the 
Colosseum- 
were  fortified 
as  the  strong- 
holds of  rival 
clans.  At  this 
time,  Eienzi 
sought  to  re- 
vive the  an- 
cient republic 
(1347).  Of 
humble  origin, 
he  was  the 
friend  of  Pe- 
trarch, the  poet,  and  possessed 
a  fiery  eloquence  that  moved 
the  masses.  Elected  tribune,  he  ruled  for  seven  months,  but, 
forgetting  the  simplicity  of  the  olden  time,  he  dressed  in  silk 
and  gold,  and  was  preceded  by  heralds  with  silver  trumpets 
to  announce  his  approach.  The  nobles  rose  against  him, 
the  people  fell  away,  and  the  "  Last  of  the  Tribunes"  was 
slain  in  a  street  riot. 


THE  ARCH    OF  TITUS. 


THE     CRUSADES. 


397 


THE  CRUSADES  (1095-1270). 

Origin. — Palestine,  the  land  made  sacred  for  all  time  by 
the  presence  of  Christ,  had,  from  the  earliest  ages  of  the 
church,  a  strong  attraction  for  believers.  A  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem,  or  other  hallowed  spot,  became  the  most  popular 
of  penances.     In  the  general  belief,  to  atone  for  the  greatest 


CRUSADERS  ON   THE  MARCH. 


sin,  one  had  only  to  bathe  in  the  Jordan,  or  spend  a  night 
on  Calvary.  The  number  of  pilgrims  greatly  increased  about 
the  year  1000,  many  desiring  to  await  in  the  Holy  Land  the 
coming  of  the  Lord.  The  Saracens  welcomed  the  pilgrims  ; 
but  the  Turks,  who  afterward  conquered  Palestine,  inflicted 
upon  them  every  outrage  that  fanaticism  could  invent. 
Each  returning  palmer  told  a  fresh  tale  of  horror.     Peter 


398 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES, 


[llTH  CENT. 


the  Hermit,  stirred  by  what  he  saw  in  Jerusalem,  resolved  to 
rescue  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  With  bare  head  and  feet, 
dressed  in  a  coarse  robe  tied  with  a  cord,  bearing  a  crucifix 
in  his  hand,  and  riding  an  ass,  this  fierce  monk  traversed 
Italy  and  France.  Pope  Urban  II.  supported  his  burning 
appeals.  At  a  council  held  at  Clermont,  the  assembled  mul- 
titude shouted  with  one  impulse,  *^God  wills  it!"  Thou- 
sands volunteered  for  the  holy  war,  and  fastened  to  their  gar- 
ments the  red  cross — 
the  symbol  of  this  sa- 
cred vow. 

The  First  Crusade 
(1096)*  numbered  over 
half  a  million  fighting 
men  under  Godfrey, 
duke  of  Bouillon.  There 
were  one  hundred  thou- 
sand steel-clad  knights, 
including  such  nobles  as 
Robert  of  Normandy, 
eldest  son  of  William 
the  Conqueror;  Bohe- 
mond,  son  of  Robert 
Guiscard,  the  Norman 
founder  of  the  kingdom  of  Sicily;  Hugh,  brother  of  Philip  I. 
of  France;  and  Tancred,  next  to  Godfrey,  the  pattern  of 
chivalry. 

*  Prior  to  this,  Peter  the  Hermit  and  a  poor  knight  named  Walter  the  Penniless, 
set  off  with  a  motley  rabhle  of  three  hundred  thousand  men.  women,  and  children. 
Without  order  or  dis=cipline,  they  crossed  Europe,  robbing  the  inhabitants  and  killing 
the  Jews  wherever  they  went.  So  great  was  the  delusion,  that  farmers  took  their 
families  with  them  in  carts  drawn  by  oxen  ;  and  the  children,  carrying  mimic 
swords,  sported  about,  and  shouted,  whenever  they  saw  a  castle  or  town,  "Isn't  that 
Jerusalem  ?"  Thousands  of  the  fanatical  crowd  were  skin  en  route  by  the  outraged 
people.  The  pitiable  remnant  fell  beneath  the  Turkish  sabre,  and  their  bleached 
l)ones  served  to  fortify  the  camp  of  the  second  crusaders. 


THE  TOMB   OF   GODFREY   DE   BOUILLON. 


1096.]  THE     CRUSADES.  399 

This  great  army  poured  into  Constantinople.*  The  em- 
peror Alexis  quickly  passed  his  unwelcome  guests  into  Asia. 
Nice  and  Antioch  were  captured  after  bloody  sieges.  Finally, 
the  Crusaders,  reduced  to  only  twenty  thousand  men,  ap- 
proached Jerusalem.  When  they  came  in  sight  of  the  Holy 
City,  the  hardy  warriors  burst  into  tears,  and  in  a  transport 
of  joy  kissed  the  earth.  It  was  forty  days  before  they  could 
pull  down  the  Crescent  from  the  walls-f  Then,  forgetting 
the  meekness  of  the  Saviour  whose  tomb  they  were  seeking, 
and  in  spite  of  Godfrey's  and  Tancred's  protests,  they  mas- 
sacred seventy  thousand  infidels,  and  burned  the  Jews  in 
their  synagogue.  As  evening  came 
on,  while  the  streets  still  ran  with 
blood,  they  threw  off  their  helmets, 
bared  their  feet,  entered  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  sang  hymns 
of  praise,  and  partook  of  the  com- 
munion. 

Godfrey  was  now  elected  king  of 
Jerusalem,  but  he.  refused  to  wear  a  ""^^^  °"  ''"'  '^"'"^''  ^ 
crown  of  gold  where  his  master  had  Ijorne  one  of  thorns. 
He  was  therefore  styled  Baron  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre :  on 
his  death,  the  crown  fell  to  Baldwin,  his  brother.  "War  was 
continually  waged  betAveen  the  Christians  in  the  Holy  City 
and  their  Mohammedan  neighbors.  During  these  contests, 
there  arose  two  famous  military  religious  orders — the  Hospi- 
tallers, who  wore  a  white  cross  on  a  black  mantle,  and  the 
Templars,  whose  badge  was  a  red  cross  on  a  white  mantle. 
They  vowed  obedience,  celibacy,  and  poverty;    to  defend 

*  The  haughty  Teutons  looked  with  contempt  on  the  effeminate  Greeks,  and  a 
rough  baron  rudely  ascended  the  imperial  throne,  and  sat  down  beside  the  monarch. 

t  Jerusalem  was  then  held  by  the  Saracenic  caliph  of  Egypt,  who  had  wrested 
Palestine  from  the  Turks. 

%  Two  knights  on  one  horse,  to  indicate  the  original  poverty  of  the  order. 


400  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [12th  CEl^T. 

pilgrims;  and  to  be  the  first  in  battle  and  the  last  in 
retreat. 

Second  Crusade  (1147).— Half  a  century  passed,  when 
the  swarming  Saracens  seemed  about  to  overwhelm  the  little 
Frank  kingdom  in  Palestine.  St.  Bernard  now  preached  a 
new  Crusade.  Louis  VII.  of  France  and  Conrad  III.  of 
Germany  led  across  Europe  three  hundred  thousand  men.* 
But  the  treacherous  emperor  of  the  East  cut  off  their  food, 
and  betrayed  the  Germans  to  the  Turks  amid  the  mountains 
of  Cappadocia.  The  French,  more  as  pilgrims  than  soldiers, 
reached  Jerusalem,  and,  Conrad  having  joined  Louis,  the 
two  monarchs  laid  siege  to  Damascus.  Beaten  back  from 
its  walls,  they  abandoned  the  Crusade  in  humiliation. 

Third  Crusade  (1189). — Forty  years  elapsed,  when  the 
Egyptian  sultan,  Saladin,  chief  of  Moslem  warriors  for 
courage  and  courtesy,  took  Jerusalem.  The  news  convulsed 
Europe  with  grief.  Kichard  Coeur  de  Lion,  Philip  Augus- 
tus, and  Frederick  Barbarossa  assumed  the  Cross.  Frederick 
took  a  magnificent  army  across  Hungary.  While  marching 
through  Asia  Minor,  in  attempting  to  swim  a  swollen  stream, 
he  was  drowned. 

Richard  and  Philip,  conveying  their  troops  by  sea,  had 
captured  Acre— the  key  to  Palestine — when  the  French 
king,  jealous  of  the  Lion-hearted's  prowess  and  fame,f  re- 

*  Louis  was  accompanied  by  queen  Eleanor  (afterward  divorced,  and  married  to 
Henry  n.,  p.  356),  leading  a  body  of  women  clad  in  knightly  array ;  and  Conrad  was 
followed  by  a  similar  band,  whose  chief,  with  her  gilt  spurs  and  buskins,  was  called 
the  Golden -footed  Dame. 

t  The  fame  of  Richard's  valor  lingered  long  in  the  East.  Mothers  stilled  their 
children  by  uttering  his  dreaded  name  ;  and,  when  the  Moslem  and  Christian  host 
had  been  dust  for  many  years,  horsemen  would  shout  to  a  shying  steed,  '*  Dost  thou 
think  it  is  King  Richard?"  In  thousands  of  English  homes,  men  idolized  the  Lion- 
hearted,  in  spite  of  his  cruelty,  the  uselessness  of  his  triumphs,  and  the  weakness  of 
his  reign.  Saladin's  admiration,  too,  was  roused  by  Richard's  valor.  In  the  midst 
of  battle,  his  brother  sent  begging  of  the  English  king  the  "honor  of  knighthood ;  and 
when  Philip  and  Richard  lay  tossing  with  fever  in  their  tents  before  Acre,  their  gen- 
erous foe  forwarded  them  presents  of  pears  and  snow. 


12th  cent.] 


THE     CKUSADES, 


401 


turned  home.  Richard  pressed  on,  and  at  last  reached  a 
hill  whence  he  could  see  Jerusalem,  twenty  miles  away. 
Hesitating  to  attack  the  city,  he  covered  his  face  and  sadly 
tunied  back,  declaring  that  he  who  was  "  unwilling  to  rescue 
was  unworthy  to  view  the  sepulchre  of  Christ." 

On  his  return  through  Germany,  Eichard  was  thrown  into 
prison  by  Leopold,  duke  of  Austria,  whom  he  had  grievously 

insulted  in  Palestine. 
After  a  time  he  was 
turned  over  to  the 
German  emperor, 
Henry  VI.  The  Eng- 
lish people,  to  ransom 
their  gallant  king, 
were  forced  to  give 
one-fourth  of  their 
incomes,  and  even  to 
pawn  the  church 
plate. 

This  was  the  last 
Crusade  that  reached 
Palestine  in  force. 
The  subsequent  ex- 
peditions were  direct- 
ed to  other  objects. 

The  Fourth  Cru- 
sade (1202)  was  sent 
out  by  Henry  VI., 
the  Lion-hearted's  jailor.  Transports  were  obtained  from 
the  Venetians,  by  agreeing  to  take  Zara,  a  city  of  Dalmatia, 
for  the  Doge.  The  Crusaders  next  sailed  for  Constantino- 
ple, to  restore  its  dethroned  emperor  Isaac.  They  stormed 
the  city,  plundered  its  palaces,  and  destroyed  its  precious 


fTftuTncM.  scRvma 


402 


MEDIEVAL     TEOPLES. 


[13th  cent. 


monuments.     A  Latin  empire  was  now  established  at  Con- 
stantinople.    This  lasted  half  a  century,  and  there  seemed  a 
hope  of  reuniting  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  church  ;  but 
the  Greeks  recovered  the  Byzantine  capital  (1261).* 
The  Fifth  Crusade  (1218),  led  by  the  King  of  Hungary, 

was  finally  directed  to 
Egypt,  as  it  was  thought 
that  the  conquest  of  that 
country  would  be  a  step 
toward  the  recovery  of 
Palestine.  It  ended  in 
defeat. 


ST.    LOUIS   LANDING   IN   EGYPT. 

The  Sixth  Crusade  (1228)  was  a  pacific  one.  The  Ger- 
man emperor  Frederick  II.,  although  under  an   interdict 

*  The  Children's  Crusade  (1212)  well  illustrates  the  wild  folly  of  the  times.  Thirty 
thousand  French  hoys,  led  by  a  peasant  youth  named  Stephen,  started  to  do  what  so 
many  armies  had  failed  to  accomplish.  After  innumerable  hardships  they  reached 
Marseilles.  Here  they  were  induced  by  unscrupulous  traders  to  take  ship.  Instead 
of  going  to  Palestine,  they  landed  in  Africa,  and  large  numbers  of  these  unhappy 
children  were  sold  as  slaves  in  the  Saracen  markets. 


13th  cent.]  the    crusades.  .403 

from  the  pope,  went  to  Palestine,  by  a  treaty  with  the  sul- 
tan freed  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem  from  the  infidels,  and, 
entering  the  Holy  City,  crowned  himself  king.  A  few  years 
later,  a  horde  of  Asiatic  Turks,  fleeing  before  the  Mongols 
under  Genghis  Khan  (p.  405),  overwhelmed  the  country. 

The  Seventh  and  Eighth  Crusades  (1249,  1270)  were 
conducted  by  Saint  Louis.  In  the  first  expedition,  he  landed 
in  Egypt,  hut  was  taken  prisoner,  and  his  release  secured 
only  by  a  heavy  ransom  ;  in  the  second,  he  went  to  Tunis, 
with  the  wild  hope  of  baptizing  its  Mohammedan  king. 
Instead  of  a  proselyte,  he  found  a  grave.  With  the  death  of 
Saint  Louis,  the  spirit  of  the  Crusades  expired.  Soon  after, 
the  Mohammedans  captured  Acre — the  last  Christian  strong- 
hold in  Palestine. 

Effects  of  the  Crusades.— Though  these  vast  military  expe- 
ditions had  failed  of  their  direct  object,  they  had  produced  marked 
results.  By  staying  the  tide  of  Mohammedan  conquest,  they  doubtless 
saved  Europe  from  the  horrors  of  Saracenic  invasion.  Commerce  had 
received  a  great  impulse,  and  a  profitable  trade  had  sprung  up  between 
the  East  and  the  West.  The  Italian  cities  had  grown  rich  and  power- 
ful ;  while  the  European  states,  coming  into  contact  with  the  more 
polished  nations  of  the  East,  had  gained  refinement  and  culture. 

Many  a  haughty  and  despotic  baron  had  been  forced  to  grant  munici- 
pal rights  to  some  city,  or  sell  land  to  some  rich  merchant,  to  procure 
funds  for  his  outfit ;  thus  there  slowly  grew  up,  between  the  lord  and 
the  peasant,  a  strong  middle  class. 

As  the  popes  led  in  the  Crusades,  their  influence  increased  immensely 
during  this  period.  The  departing  crusaders  received  special  privi- 
leges from  the  church,  while  their  person  and  property  were  under  its 
immediate  protection.  Many  knights  willed  their  estates  to  a  neighbor- 
ing monastery,  and,  as  few  returned  from  the  East,  the  church  thus 
acquired  vast  wealth. 


404 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


THE     MOORS     IN     SPAIN. 


After  the  Moorish  Conquest,  the  wreck  of  the  Visi- 
goths found  refuge  among  the  mountains  of  Asturias. 
Gradually  they  gained  strength,  and  began  to  win  back  the 
land  of  their  fathers.  Nowhere  ^vas  the  Crusade  against  the 
Saracen  w^aged  more  gallantly.  Early  in  the  13th  century 
there  were  firmly  established  in  the  peninsula  four  Christian 
kingdoms — Portugal,  Aragon,  Castile,  and  Navarre — while 
the  Moorish  power  had  shrunk  to  the  single  province  of 
Granada.  The  free  constitutions  of  Aragon  and  Castile 
guaranteed  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  in  the  Cortes,  or 
national  assemblies  of  these  kingdoms,  the  third  estate  se- 
cured a  place  long  before  representation  was  granted  the 
commons  of  any  other  European  country.  The  mamagc 
of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  and  Isabella  of  Castile  (1469),  laid 


1492.]  ASIA     Iiq-     THE     MIDDLE     AGES.  405 

the  foundation  of  the  Spanish  power.  These  illustrious 
sovereigns  resolved  to  expel  the  infidels  from  their  last 
stronghold.  Town  after  town  was  taken.  The  old  Moorish 
castles  and  towers,  impregnable  to  battering-ram  or  cata- 
pult, crumbled  before  the  cannon  of  the  Spanish  engineers. 
Finally,  the  time  came,  as  Ferdinand  said,  "^  to  pick  out  the 
last  seed  of  the  Moorish  pomegranate."  *  The  city  of 
Granada  was  invested.  After  an  eight-months  siege.  King 
Abdallah  gave  up  the  keys  of  the  Alhambra.  f  It  was  now 
1492,  the  year  of  the  discovery  of  America. 

ASIA    IN    THE    MIDDLE    AGES. 

The  principal  Asiatic  nations  which  influenced  history 
during  this  period  were  the  Mongols,  and  the  Turks.  These 
were  Tartar  races  having  their  home  on  the  vast  plateau 
of  mid- Asia. 

The  Mongols  came  into  prominence  in  the  13th  cen- 
tury, under  Genghis  Khan.  This  chief  of  a  mere  petty 
horde  subdued  the  neighboring  tribes,  and  then  organized 
and  disciplined  the  whole  Tartar  manhood  into  one  enor- 
mous army  of  horsemen.  The  result  was  appalling.  The 
world  liad  not  seen  since  the  time  of  Alexander  such  expedi- 
tions as  this  incomparable  cavalry  now  made.  If  Attila  was 
in  Europe  the  '^  Scourge  of  God,"  much  more  did  Genghis 
in  Asia  deserve  that  epithet.  Fifty  thousand  cities,  with 
their  treasures  of  art,  and  five  million  human  lives,  were  sac- 
rificed to  his  thirst  for  plunder  and  power.  The  sons  and 
grandsons  of  Genghis  followed  up  his  conquests,  until  the 
Mongul  Empire  finally  reached  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the 
banks  of  the  Vistula  in  Poland. 

*  Granada  is  the  Spanish  word  for  pomegranate. 

+  The  fallen  monarch,  riding  away,  paused  upon  a  rock,  still  known  as  the  *'  Last 
eigh  of  the  Moor,"  to  take  a  final  view  of  the  beautiful  country  and  the  "  pearl  of 
palaces"  which  he  had  lost.  As  he  burst  into  tears,  his  mother  exclaimed,  "  It  befits 
you  to  bewail  like  a  woman  what  you  could  not  defend  like  a  man," 


406  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES.  [1402. 

This  mighty  empire  fell  in  pieces  during  the  next  century ; 
but  about  1369  there  arose  a  descendant  of  Genghis  named 
Timour,  or  Tamerlane,  who  sought  to  reunite  the  Mongul 
conquests.  He  conquered  Great  Tartary  and  Persia,  and 
invaded  India — crossing  the  Indus  where  Alexander  did. 
Turning  thence  into  Asia  Minor,  he  defeated  the  sultan  of 
the  Ottoman  Turks,  Bajazet  (lightning),  upon  the  plains  of 
Angora  (1402) ;  but  afterward,  marching  to  invade  China, 
he  died  en  route.  His  armies  and  empire  quickly  melted 
away.  The  track  of  the  ferocious  conqueror  in  his  devas- 
tating path  across  Asia  was  marked  by  the  pyramids  of 
human  heads  he  erected  as  monuments  of  his  victories. 

Baber — a  descendant  of  Tamerlane — followed  up  the  con- 
quest of  India,  and  established  his  capital  at  Delhi.  There 
the  "Great  Moguls"  long  ruled  in  magnificence,  erecting 
mosques  and  tombs  that  are  yet  the  admiration  of  the  trav- 
eler. The  last  of  the  Mogul  emperors  died  almost  in  our 
own  day,  being  still  prayed  for  in  every  mosque  in  India, 
though  confined  to  his  palace  by  the  English  army,  and  liv- 
ing upon  an  English  pension. 

The  Turks. — (1)  The  Seljuhian  Turks,  about  the  time 
of  the  Norman  Conquest,  captured  Bagdad,  and  their  chief 
received , from  the  cahph  the  high-sounding  title  of  Com- 
mander of  the  Faithful.  In  1076  they  seized  Jerusalem, 
where  their  brutal  treatment  of  the  pilgrims  caused,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  Crusades.  The  fragments  of  this  first  Turk- 
ish empire  were  absorbed  in  the  dominions  of  Genghis  Khan. 
(2)  The  Ottoman  Turks  were  so  named  from  Othman 
(1299-1326),  the  founder  of  their  empire.  His  son  Orchan 
created  the  famous  force  of  Janizaries*  (new  troops),  and  a 

*  The  stoutest  and  handsomest  of  the  captive  youth  were  annually  selected  for 
service  in  the  army.  Educateri  in  the  religion  of  their  masters,  and  trained  to  arms, 
they  formed,  like  the  Praetorian  Guard  of  Rome,  a  powerful  body-guard  that  was  the 
terror  of  Europe. 


15th  cent.]    fall  of  constantikople, 


407 


body  of  his  warriors,  crossing  the  Hellespont,  gained  a  foot- 
ing on  European  soil — the  first  in  Turkish  history  (1356) ; 
his  grandson  Amurath  captured  Adrianople ;  his  great- 
grandson  Bajazet,  in  the  battle  of  NicopoUs  (1396),  routed 
the  chivalry  of  Hungary  and.  France,  ravaged  Greece,  and 
was  finally  checked  only  by  a  stronger  Asiatic  conqueror, 
the  dreaded  Tamerlane. 

Half  a  century  passed,  when  Mohammed  II.,  with  an  army 
of  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Turks,  sat  down  be- 
fore Constantinople.  Artillery  of  unwonted  size  and  power 
battered  its  walls  for  fifty-three  days.  The  Janizaries  at 
length  burst  through.  The  emperor  Constantino,  the  last 
of  the  Caesars,  was  slain,  sword  in  hand,  in  the  breach,  and 
the  Byzantine  empire  that  had  lasted  one  thousand  and 
fifty-eight  years,  fell  to  rise  no  more.  The  crescent  replaced 
the  cross  on  the  dome  of  St.  Sophia.  It  was  the  closing 
event  of  the  Middle  Ages  (1453).* 

*  The  pupil  will  notice  that  -while  the  fall  of  Constantinople  is  taken  by  historians 
as  the  event  which  marked  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  there  was  really  a  transition 
period  from  the  Middle  Ages  to  Modem  History,  the  length  and  date  of  which  varied 
among  the  different  nations.  Each  people  had  its  own  dawn  and  sunrise,  and  for 
itself  entered  into  the  day  of  modem  civilization  and  progress. 


MOHAMMEDAN    EMBLEMS, 


408 


MEDIAEVAL     PEOPLES. 


MEDIEVAL     CIVILIZATION. 

Hise  of  Feudalism. — The  Roman  government  had  sometimes 
granted  lands  on  condition  of  military  service ;  the  Franks  followed 
a  chief  as  their  personal  lord.  Out  of  these  two  old-time  customs  there 
grew  up  a  new  system  which  was  destined  to  influence  society  and 
politics  throughout  Europe  for  centuries.     This  was 

The  Feudal  System. — We  have  seen  how  the  brave  freemen 
who  followed  the  Teuton  Chief  shared  in  the  land  acquired  by  con- 
quest, each  man's  portion  being  called  his  Allod  (from  od,  an  estate) 
and  becoming  his  personal  property.     But  in  those  troublous  times 


SERFS  OF  THE  TWELFTH   CENTURY. 
(From  MS.  of  the  Time.) 


men  had  to  fight  to  retain  what  they  had  won.  So  it  came  to  pass 
that  a  king,  instead  of  keeping  a  great  standing  army  to  guard  his 
scattered  possessions  or  to  prosecute  foreign  wars,  granted  a  part  of 
his  estates  as  fiefs  or  feuds  to  his  nobles.  In  this  transaction  he,  as 
their  suzerain,  promised  to  them  justice  and  protection,  and  they,  as 
his  vassals,  agreed  not  only  to  serve  him  in  person,  but  to  furnish  upon 
his  call  a  certain  number  of  armed  men  ready  and  equipped  for  active 
military  service.  In  like  manner  the  vassals  of  the  crown  granted  estates 
to  their  followers  ;  and,  in  time,  most  of  the  allodial  owners  were  glad  to 
swear  fealty  to  some  great  lord  in  order  to  secure  his  protection.  Pow- 
erful nobles  became  vassals  of  kings,  and  kings  themselves  were 
vassals  of  other  kings, — as  was  William  the  Conqueror,  who,  as  Duke 
of  Normandy,  owed  homage  to  the  dissolute  Philip  I.  of  France.  Not 
laymen  alone  but  bishops  and  monastic  bodies  held  their  lands  by 
military  service,  and  were  bound  to  furnish  their  quota  of  soldiers. 


MEDI^.  VAL     CIVILIZATION.  409- 

These  different  bands  of  armed  men,  collected  together,  formed  the 
feudal  army  of  the  kingdom.  Thus,  in  place  of  the  solid,  highly  or- 
ganized, Roman  legion,  there  was  a  motley  array  furnished  and  com- 
manded by  the  great  nobles  of  the  realm,  each  of  whom  was  followed 
by  an  enormous  retinue  of  knights,  esquires,  and  lesser  nobles,  leading 
the  military  contingent  of  their  respective  manors  or  estates. 

In  France,  by  the  11th  century,  feudalism  was  full  grown  and  its 
evils  were  at  their  height.  The  country  was  covered  by  a  complete 
net- work  of  fiefs,  and  even  the  most  simple  privileges,  such  as  the  right 
to  cross  a  certain  ford,  or  to  fish  in  some  small  creek,  were  held  by 
feudal  tenure.  In  this  way  one  lord  was  frequently  both  suzerain  and 
vassal  to  his  neighbor  lord.  As  the  royal  power  had  become  almost 
paralyzed,  the  French  dukes  and  counts  ruled  their  compact  domains 
like  independent  kings.  Sheltered  in  their  castles  and  surrounded  by 
their  followers,  they  made  war,  formed  alliances,  and  levied  taxes  at 
their  pleasure. 

In  England,  the  Norman  Conqueror,  knowing  well  the  French  mis- 
rule, prevented  a  like  result  by  making  all  landholders,  great  and  small, 
owe  direct  fealty  to  himself,  and  by  widely  scattering  the  estates  of 
each  tenant-in-chief.* 

Feudal  Ceremonies.— jB<?m«5'e,  Fealty,  Investiture. — When  a 
vassal  received  a  fief,  he  did  homage  therefor  on  bended  knee,  ungirt 
and  bareheaded,  placing  his  joined  hands  in  those  of  his  lord,  and 
promising  to  become  "  his  man  "  from  that  day  forth.  The  vassal  was 
bound,  among  his  other  obligations,  always  to  defend  his  lord's  good 
name,  to  give  him  his  horse  if  dismounted  in  battle,  to  be  his  hostage 
if  he  were  taken  prisoner,  and  to  pay  him  specified  sums  of  money 
(aids)  on  particular  occasions — such  as  the  marriage  of  the  lord's  eldest 
daughter,  or  the  knighting  of  the  lord's  eldest  son. 

Fealty  did  not  include  the  obligation  to  become  the  lord's  man,  nor 
to  pledge  everything  for  his  ransom  ;  it  was  sworn  by  tenants  for  life, 
while  Homage  was  restricted  to  those  who  could  bequeath  their  estates. 
Investiture  was  the  placing  in  possession  of  an  estate,  either  actually 
or  symbolically,  as  by  delivering  a  stone,  turf,  or  branch. 

The  Castle  has  been  called  the  symbol  of  feudalism.  A  strong, 
stone  fortress,  crowning  some  high,  jagged  cliff  or  beetling  promontory, 
enclosed  by  massive,  parapeted  walls,  girdled  by  moats  and  bristling 
with  towers,  it  may  well  be  likened  to  a  haughty  feudal  lord.  Bold 
and  stout-hearted  must  have  been  the  foe  that  ventured  its  assault. 

*  Compare  with  the  policy  of  Cleisthenes,  in  Athens,  p.  1^4.— The  distinction 
between  feudal  obligations  in  these  two  countries  may  be  illustrated  thus  :  Let  A  be 
the  sovereign,  B  the  tenant- in-chief,  and  C  the  under-tenant.  In  France,  if  B  warred 
with  A,  C  was  bound  to  aid,  not  A,  but  B ;  while  in  England,  C  was  required  to  aid 
A  against  B. 


410 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


There  were  sometimes,  as  at  Montlheri  in  France,  five  enclosures 
to  pass  before  the  donjon  keep  was  reached.  Over  this  great  tower 
floated  the  banner  of  its  lord,  and  within  its  stone-walls,  often  ten  feet 
thick,  were  stored  his  choicest  treasures.  Its  entrance  door,  set  high 
up  in  the  wall,  was  guarded  by  a  solid,  narrow,  outer  stair  case,  a 
drawbridjre,  and  a  portcullis;  its  near  approach  was  protected  by 
mounted  battlements  and  a  machicolated  parapet.  Intrenched  in  one 
of  these  grim  strongholds  a  baron  could,  and  often  did,  defy  tlie  king 


A    MEDIEVAL   CASTLE. 


himself.  The  Crusades  broke  the  strength  of  early  Feudalism  and 
created 

Chivalry,  which,  as  an  institution,  attained  its  height  in  the  14th 
century:  In  it  were  combined  the  old  Germanic  pride  in  prowess  and  re- 
spect for  woman  ;  the  recent  religious  fervor  ;  a  growing  love  for  splen- 
dor, poetry,  and  music  ;  an  exclusive,  aristocratic  spirit ;  and  a  hitherto 
disregarded  sentiment  of  duty  toward  the  weak  and  the  oppressed.  Its 
chief  exponent  was 

The  Knight,  who,  at  his  best,  was  the  embodiment  of  valor, 
honor,  gallantry,  and  munificence.  Brave,  truthful  and  generous  in 
character;  high-bred  and  courteous  in  manner;   strong,  athletic,  and 


MEDIiEVAL     OIVILIZ  ATIOK, 


411 


graceful  in  person  ;  now  glittering  in  polished  steel  and  fiercely  batter- 
ing the  walls  of  Jerusalem ;  now  clad  in  silken  jupon  and  tilting  with 
ribboned  lance  at  the  gorgeous  tournament ;  always  associated  with 
the  sound  of  martial  music,  the  jingle  of  armor  and  the  clashing  of 
swords,  or  with  the  rustle  of  quaintly-robed  ladies  in  castle  halls — the 
ideal  chevalier  rides  through  the  middle  ages,  the  central  hero  of  all 
its  romance.  We  see  him  first,  a  lad  of  seven  years,  joining  a  group 
of  high-born  pages  and  damsels  who  cluster  about  a  fair  lady  in  a 
stately  castle.  Here  he  studies  music,  chess,  and  knightly  courtesies, 
and  commits  to  memory  his  Latin  Code  of  Manners.  He  carries  his 
lady's  messages,  sends  and  re- 
calls her  falcon  in  the  chase, 
and  imitates  the  gallantry  he 
Bees  about  him.  When  a  pil- 
grim-harper with  fresh  tidings 
from  the  Holy  Land  knocks  at 
the  castle  gate,  and  sits  down 
by  the  blazing  fire  in  the  great 
pillared  hall,  hung  with  ar- 
mor, banners,  and  emblazoned 
standards,  or  is  summoned  to 
a  cushion  on  the  floor  of  my 
lady's  chamber,  the  little  page's 
heart  swells  with  emulous  de- 
sire as  he  hears  of  the  marvel- 
lous exploits  of  the  Knights  of 
the  Holy  Grail,  or  listens  to  the 
stirring  Song  of  Roland.  At 
fourteen  he  is  made  squire,  and 
assigned  to  some  office  about 
the  castle — the  most  menial 
duty  being  an  honor  in  the 
knightly  apprenticeship.  His  physical,  moral,  and  military  education 
becomes  more  rigid.  Seated  on  his  horse,  he  learns  to  manage  arms, 
scale  walls,  and  leap  ditches.  He  leads  the  war-ateed  of  his  lord  to 
battle  or  the  tournament,  and  "  rivets  with  a  sigh  the  armor  he  is  for- 
bidden to  wear."  At  twenty-one  his  probation  is  ended.  Fasting, 
ablution,  confession,  communion,  and  a  night  in  prayer  at  the  altar, 
precede  the  final  ceremony.  He  takes  the  vow  to  defend  the  faith,  to 
protect  the  weak,  to  honor  womankind  ;  his  belt  is  slung  around  him  ; 
his  golden  spurs  are  buckled  on  ;  he  kneels  ;  receives  the  accolade,* 


COSTUME   (fourteenth    AND    FIFTEENTH 
CENTURIES.) 


*  This  was  e,  blow  on  the  neck  of  the  candidate  with  the  flat  of  a  sword,  given  by 
the  conferring  prince,  who,  at  the  same  time,  pronounced  the  words:  "I  dub  theo 
knight,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost." 


412  MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 

and  rises  a  chevalier.  His  horse  is  led  to  the  church  door,  and,  amid 
the  shouts  of  the  crowd  and  the  peal  of  trumpets,  he  rides  away  into 
the  wide  world  to  seek  the  glory  he  hopes  to  win. — Not  many  knights, 
it  is  true,  were  like  Godfrey  and  Bayard.  The  very  virtues  of  chivalry 
often  degenerated  into  vices  ;  but  any  approach  to  courtesy  in  this  vio- 
lent age  was  a  great  advance  upon  its  general  lawlessness.* 

The  Tournament  was  to  the  mediaeval  knight  what  public  games 
had  been  to  the  Greek  and  the  gladiatorial  contest  to  the  Roman. 
Every  device  was  used  to  produce  a  gorgeous  spectacle.  The  painted 
and  gilded  lists  were  hung  with  tapestries,  and  were  overlooked  by 
towers  and  galleries,  decorated  with  hangings,  pennants,  shields,  and 
banners.  Here,  dressed  in  their  richest  robes,  were  gathered  kings, 
queens,  princes,  knights,  and  ladies.  Kings-at-arms,  heralds,  and  pour- 
Buivants-at-arms — the  reporters  of  the  occasion — stood  within  or  just 
without  the  arena  ;  musicians  were  posted  in  separate  stands ;  and 
valets  and  sergeants  were  stationed  everywhere,  to  keep  order,  to  pick 
up  and  replace  broken  weapons,  and  to  raise  unhorsed  knights.  At  the 
sound  of  the  clarions  the  competing  chevaliers,  arrayed  in  full  armor 
and  seated  on  magnificently-caparisoned  horses,  with  great  jJumes 
nodding  above  their  helmets  and  ladies'  ribbons  floating  from  their 
lances,  rode  slowly  and  solemnly  into  the  lists,  followed  by  their  several 
esquires,  all  gaily  dressed  and  mounted.  Sometimes  the  combatants 
were  preceded  by  their  chosen  ladies,  who  led  them  in  by  gold  or  silver 
chains.  When  all  was  ready  the  heralds  cried,  "  Laissez-les  alter"  (let 
them  go),  the  trumpets  pealed,  and  from  the  opx)Osite  ends  of  the  arena 
the  knights  dashed  at  full  speed  to  meet  with  a  clash  in  the  center. 
Shouts  of  cheer  from  the  heralds,  loud  flourishes  from  the  musicians, 
and  bursts  of  applause  from  thousands  of  lookers  on,  rewarded  every 
brilliant  feat  of  arms  or  horsemanship.  And  when  the  conquering 
knight  bent  to  receive  the  prize  from  the  hand  of  some  fair  lady,  the 
whole  air  trembled  with  the  cries  of  "  honor  to  the  brave,"  and  "  glory 
to  the  victor."  But  tournaments  were  not  all  joyous  play.  Almost 
always,  some  were  carried  dead  or  dying  from  the  lists,  and  in  a  single 
German  tourney  sixty  knights  were  killed. 

Arms,  Armor,  and  Military  Engines. — Mail  armor  was 
composed  of  metal  rings  sewed  upon  cloth  or  linked  together  in  the 
shape  of  garments.     Afterward,  metal  plates  and  caps  were  intermixed 

*  The  knight  who  had  been  accused  and  convicted  of  cowardice  and  falsehood, 
incurred  a  fearful  degradation.  Placed  astride  a  beam,  on  a  public  scaffold,  under 
the  eyes  of  assembled  knights  and  ladies,  he  was  stripped  of  his  armor,  which  was 
broken  to  pieces  before  his  eyes  and  thrown  at  his  feet.  His  spurs  were  cast  into  the 
filth,  his  shield  was  fastened  to  the  croup  of  a  cart-horse  and  dragged  in  the  dust, 
and  his  charger's  tail  was  cut  off.  He  was  then  carried  on  a  litter  to  the  church,  the 
burial  service  was  read  over  him,  and  he  was  published  to  the  world  as  a  dead  coward 
and  traitor. 


MEDIEVAL     CITILIZATION.  413 

with  it,  and  in  the  15th  century  a  complete  suit  of  plate  armor  was 
worn.  This  consisted  of  several  pieces  of  highly-tempered  and  polished 
steel,  so  fitted,  jointed  and  overlapped  as  to  protect  the  whole  body. 
It  was  fastened  on  to  the  kniglit  with  hammer  and  pincers,  so  he  could 
neither  get  in  nor  out  of  it  alone,  and  it  was  so  cumbrous  and  unwieldy 
that,  once  down,  he  could  not  rise  again.  Thus  he  was  "  a  castle  of 
steel  on  his  war-horse,  a  helpless  log  when  overthrown."  Boiled 
leather  was  sometimes  used  in  place  of  metal.  Common  soldiers  wore 
leather  or  quilted  jackets,  and  an  iron  scull-cap.- 

The  long-bow  was  to  the  middle  ages  what  the  rifle  is  to  our  day. 
The  English  excelled  in  its  use,  and  their  enemies  sometimes  left  their 
walls  unmanned  because,  as  was  said,  "  no  one  could  peep  but  he  would 
have  an  arrow  in  his  eye  before  he  could  shut  it."  The  Genoese  were 
famous  cross-bow  men.  The  bolts  of  brass  and  iron  sent  from  their  huge 
cross-bows  would  pass  through  the  head-piece  of  a  man-at-arms  and 
pierce  his  brain.  Many  of  the  military  arts  and  defences  used  from  the 
earliest  times  were  still  in  vogue,  and  so  remained  until  gunpowder 
was  Invented.  Indeed,  a  mediaeval  picture  of  a  siege  does  not  strikingly 
differ  from  Ninevite  sculptures  or  Theban  paintings,  either  in  the  nature 
of  its  war-engines  or  in  the  perspective  art  of  the  drawing  itself. 

Education  and  Literature.— During  the  11th  and  12th  cen- 
turies, schools  and  seminaries  of  learning  were  multiplied  and  began  to 
expand  into  universities,  that  of  Paris,  the  "  City  of  Letters,"  taking 
the  lead.  Now,  also,  arose  the  Scholafitic  Philosophy,  which  applied  the 
logic  of  Aristotle  to  intricate  problems  in  theology.  The  Schoolmen 
began  with  Peter  Lombard  (d.  1160 \  a  professor  in  the  University  of 
Paris,  where  he  had  studied  under  the  brilliant  Abelard — an  eloquent 
lecturer,  now  remembered  chiefly  as  the  lover  of  Heloise.  Lombard 
has  been  styled  the  "  Euclid  of  Scholasticism."  Another  noted  school- 
man was  Albertus  Magnus,  a  German  of  immense  learning,  whose 
scientific  researches  brought  upon  him  the  reputation  of  a  sorcerer.  The 
doctrines  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  a  Dominican  Monk,  and  of  Duns  Scotus, 
a  Franciscan,  divided  the  schools,  and  the  reasonings  and  counter- 
reasonings  of  Thomists  and  Scotists  filled  countless  pages  with  logical 
subtleties.  The  vast  tomes  of  Scholastic  theology  left  by  the  13th  cen- 
tury schoolmen  "amaze  and  appal  the  mind  with  the  enormous  accu- 
mulation of  intellectual  industry,  ingenuity, and  toil,  of  which  the  sole 
result  to  posterity  is  this  barren  amazement."  Roger  Bacon  was  at  this 
time  startling  the  age  by  his  wonderful  discoveries  in  science.  Ac- 
cused, like  Albert  the  Great,  of  dealing  with  magic,  he  paid  the  pen- 
alty of  his  advanced  views  by  ten  years  in  prison. 

While  in  monastery  and  university  the  schoolmen  racked  their  brains 
with  subtle  and  profound  distinctions,  the  gay  French  Troubadours, 
equipped  with  their  ribboned  guitars,  were  flitting  from  castle  to  castle, 


414 


MEDIEVAL    PEOPLES, 


where  tlie  gates  were  always  open  to  tliem  and  their  flattering  rhymes. 

The  Trowoeres  supplied  the  age  with  allegories,  comic  tales,  and  long 

romances,   while   the  German   Minnesclnger   (love-singers)   numbered 

kings  and  princes  among  their  poets. 

In  Scandinavia,  the  mythological  poems 
or  sagas  of  the  8th — 10th  centuries  were 
collected  into  what  is  called  the  older  Edda 
(11th  or  12th  cent.);  and  afterward  ap- 
peared the  younger  Edda — whose  legends 
linked  the  Norse  race  with  the  Trojan 
heroes  (p.  115).  The  German  Nibelungen- 
lied  (12th  cent.)  was  a  collection  of  the 
same  ancestral  legends  woven  into  a  grand 
epic  by  an  unknown  poet. 

To  the  13th  and  14th  centuries,  respec- 
tively, belong  the  great  poets  Dante  and 
Chaucer.  About  this  time  a  strong  desire 
for  learning  was  felt  among  the  common 
people,  it  being  for  them  the  only  road  to 
distinction.  The  children  of  burghers  and 
artisans,  whose  education  began  in  the 
little  public  school  attached  to  the  parish- 
church,  rose  to  be  lawyers,  priests,  and 
statesmen.  The  nobility,  generally,  cared 
little  for  scholarship.  A  gentleman  could 
always  employ  a  secretary,  and  the  glory 
won  in  a  crusade  or  a  successful  tilt  in  a 
tournament  was  worth  more  to  a  mediaeval 
knight  than  the  book  lore  of  ages.  Every 
monastery  had  a  *' writing-room,"  where 
the  younger  monks  were  employed  in  tran- 
scribing manuscripts.  After  awhile,  copy- 
ing became  a  trade,  the  average  price  being 
about  four  cents  a  leaf  for  prose,  and  two 
for  verse — the  page  containing  thirty  lines. 
Adding  price  of  paper,  a  book  of  prose  cost 
not  far  from  fifty  cents  a  leaf. 

Arts  and  Architecture.— As  learn- 


(Thirteenth  &  Four- 
teenth Centuries.) 


*  The  style,  or  stylus,  was  the  chief  instrument  of  writing  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
With  the  pointed  end  the  letters  were  cut  on  the  waxen  tablet,  while  the  rounded 
head  was  used  in  making  erasures.  If  the  writing  was  to  be  preserved,  it  was  after- 
ward copied  by  a  scribe  on  parchment  or  vellum,  with  a  rude  reed  pen,  which  was 
dipped  in  a  colored  liquid.  The  style  was  sometimes  made  of  bone  or  ivory,  some- 
times of  glass  or  iron,  while  those  used  by  persons  of  rank  were  made  of  gold  or 
silver,  and  were  often  ornamented  with  curious  figures. 


MEDIEVAL     CIVILIZATION.  415 

ing  was  confined  mostly  to  tlie  clmrch,  art  naturally  found  its  chief 
expression  in  cathedral  building.  Toward  the  close  of  the  13th  cen- 
tury, the  round-arched,  Romanesqae  style  gave  place  to  the  pointed- 
arched,  spired,  and  buttressed  edifice.  The  use  of  painted  glass  for 
windows  crowned  the  glory  of  the  Gothic  cathedral.*  Religious  ideas 
were  expressed  in  designs  and  carvings.  Thus  the  great  size  and  lofti- 
ness of  the  interior  symbolized  the  Divine  Majesty;  the  high  and 
pointed  towers  represented  faith  and  hope  ;  and,  as  the  rose  was  made 
to  signify  human  life,  everywhere  on  windows,  doors,  arches,  and 
columns,  the  cross  sprang  out  of  a  rose.  So,  too,  the  altar  was  placed 
at  the  East,  whence  the  Saviour  came,  and  was  raised  three  steps,  to 
indicate  the  Trinity.     These  mighty  structures  were  the  work  often  of 

FAC-SIMILE   OF   FRENCH    WRITING   OF  THE    15TH    CENTURY. 

centuries.  The  Cologne  Cathedral  was  begun  in  1248 ;  its  chancel  was 
finished  in  1320 ;  but  the  lofty  spire  was  not  completed  till  our  own 
day. 

The  Guilds  and  Corporations  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  a  great 
power,  rivalling  the  influence  of  the  nobles  and  frequently  controlling 
the  municipal  government. 

Manners  and  OwB^iOxn.^,— Extravagance  in  dress,  equipage,  and 
table  marked  all  high  life.  Only  the  finest  cloths,  linens,  silks  and 
velvets,  adorned  with  gold,  pearls,  and  embroidery,  satisfied  the  tastes 
of  the  nobility."  \     In  the  midst  of  the  Hundred-Years  War  England 

*  The  Italians  relied  more  on  brilliant  frescoes  and  Mosaics  for  interior  effect ; 
the  French  and  English  cathedrals  excelled  in  painted  glass.  "  Nothing  which  pre- 
ceded this  invention,"  says  Pergiisson,  "  can  compare  with  the  parti-colored  glories 
of  the  windows  of  a  perfect  Gothic  Cathedral,  where  the  whole  history  of  the  Bible 
is  written  in  the  hnes  of  the  rainbow  by  the  earnest  hand  of  faith !  " 

+  Men  took  the  lead  in  fashion,  and  indulged  in  the  most  grotesque  absurdities. 
At  one  time  peaked  shoes  were  in  vogue,  the  points,  two  feet  long,  being  shaped  like 
a  scorpion's  tail  or  twisted  like  a  corkscrew ;  at  another  time  the  toes  became  so 
broad  that  the  law  finally  limited  the  width  to  six  inches.  A  fop  of  the  14th  century 
is  thus  described  by  an  old  writer:  "He  wore  long  pointed  shoes,  fastened  to  his 
knees  by  gold  and  silver  chains  ;  hose  of  one  color  on  one  leg  and  of  another  on  the 
other ;  short  breeches  which  did  not  reach  to  the  knee ;  a  coat  one-half  white,  the 


416 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


and  France  carried  on  a  rivalry  of  splendor  and  expense.  Delicacies 
from  Constantinople,  Palestine,  Phcenicia,  Alexandria,  and  Babylon, 
were  served  at  royal  entertainments.     The  tables  blazed  with  gold  and 

silver  plate,  yet  had -not  the 

refinement   of   a    fork,   and 

fingers  were  thrust  into  the 

rich  dishes  or  tore  the  greasy 

meats  into  bits.      A  knight 

and  his  lady  often  ate  from 

the  same  plate,  and  soaked 

their  crusts  of  bread  in  the 

same  cup  of  soup.     Men  and 

women  sat  at  table  with  their 

hats  on,  although  it  was  the 

height   of    bad    manners   to 

keep  on  gloves  during  a  visit, 

and  a  personal  insult  to  take 

the  hand  of  a  friend  in  the 

street  without   first  unglov- 

iug.     Great  households  were 

kept  up,  and  kings  enter- 
tained as  many  as  10,000  per- 
sons daily  at  the  royal  board. 

The  lower  orders  aped  the 
higher,  and  Sumptuary  Laws  were  made  to  protect  the  privileges  of  the 
nobility,  not  only  in  dress  but  also  in  food. 


MALE   COSTUME. 

(Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Cen- 
turies.) 


FEMALE   COSTUME. 


(Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Ci 
luries.) 


MOVABLE   IRON   CAGE. 
(Fifteenth  Century.) 


Other  blue  or  black ;  a  lonj;  beard  ;  a  silk  hood  buttoned  under  his  chin,  embroidered 
with  quaint  figures  of  animals  and  ornamented  with  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones." 


READIKG     REFERENCES.  417 

Punishments  were  barbarous  and  severe.  The  gallows  and  the 
rack  were  ever  at  work.  Chopping  off  of  hands,  putting  out  of  eyes, 
and  cutting  off  of  ears,  were  common  affairs.  The  most  ingenious  tor- 
tures were  devised,  and  hanging  was  the  mildest  death  allowed  to 
criminals. 

Summary  (see  p.  315).— The  Vth  and  Vlth  centuries  were  charac- 
terized by  the  settlements  of  the  Teutons  in  Roman  territory.  The 
Vllth  century  was  marked  by  the  rise  of  Mohammed  and  the  spread 
of  the  Saracen  empire.  The  Vlllth  century  saw  the  growth  of  the 
Prankish  power,  culminating  in  the  empire  of  Charlemagne.  The 
IXth  century  witnessed  the  welding  of  the  Saxon  sovereignties  into 
England  ;  the  breaking  up  of  Charlemagne's  empire  into  France,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy  ;  and  the  founding  of  Russia  by  the  Normans.  The 
Xth  century  brought  RoUo  into  Normandy  and  Capet  into  his  kingdom. 
The  Xlth  century  was  made  memorable  by  the  Norman  Conquest  of 
England;  the  overthrow  of  the  Greek-Saracen  rule  in  Southern  Italy; 
and  the  War  of  the  Investiture  in  Germany.  The  Xllth  century  saw 
the  Crusades  at  their  height,  and  the  Italian  republics  in  their  glory. 
The  Xlllth  century  was  marked  by  feeble  Crusades,  and  the  granting 
or  Magna  Charta  in  England.  The  XlVth  century  witnessed  the  100- 
Years  War.  The  XVth  century  is  memorable  for  the  deliverance  of 
France ;  the  Wars  of  the  Roses ;  the  Conquest  of  Granada,  with  the 
rise  of  Spain ;  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  and  the  discovery  of  America. 

READI  NG     REFERENCES. 

Generai.  njsTovtrr.—Eallam's  Middle  Ages.—Tutz  and  Amdd?8  Mediceval  His- 
tory.—Schmitz's  Middle  Ages.— Freeman' s  General  Sketch  of  European  History.— 
Finlay's  History  of  the  Byzantine  Empire.— MilTnan's  History  of  Latin  Christianity.— 
Drapers  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe.— Creasy'' s  Fifteen  Decisive  Battles.— 
Guizofs  History  of  Civilization.— Menzies'^s  History  of  Middle  Ages.— The  Beginning 
of  the  Middle  Ages  {Epochs  of  History  Series).— Duruy's  Histoire  du  Moyen  Age- 
Freeman's  Historical  Geography  of  Europe  (ifivaluable  in  tracing  obscure  geograph- 
ical changes).- Robertson^ 8  Charles  V.  {Introduction  on  Middle  Ages).— Sullivan's  His- 
torical Causes  and  Effects.— Dunham's  Middle  Ages.— Adams's  Manual  of  Historical 
Literature  {an  excellent  bibliographical  guide).— Lacroix's  Manners  and  Customs. 

Science  and  Literature,  and  Military  and  Religious  Life.,  of  the  Middle  Ages 

Macleafs  Apostles  of  MeduzvaZ  Europe.—  Wright's  Homes  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
Womankind  in  Western  Europe.— Kingsley's  Roman  and  Teuton.— Baring- Gould's 
Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages.— Cox  and  Jones's  Romances  of  the  Middle  Ages.— 
OliphanVs  Francis  of  Assisi.— George  Eliot's  Romola. 

The  Crusades  and  Chw alky.— Cocc's  Crusades.— Michaud:'s  History  of  the  Cru- 
sades.—Mackay's  Popular  Delusions,  art.  The  Crusades.— Addison's  History  of  the 
Knights  Templar.— Tasso's  Jerusalem  Ddimred  {poetry).— Chronicles  of  the  Crusades 
{Bohn's  Library).— Bell  s  Studies  of  Feudalism.— Chronicles  of  Froissart  {unrivalled 
pictures  of  chivalry).— Scott's  Ivanhoe,  Talisman,  and  Anne  of  Geierstein.—Bulfnch's 
Age  of  Chivalry. 

England.— ^W7n«'«,  Knight's.  Green's,  LingarcTs,  Creasy' s,  Keightley's,  Cottier's^ 
and  Gardiner's  Histories  of  England.-Pearson's  History  of  England,  Early  and  mdr 


418 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


die  Ages.— Freeman's  History  of  the  Norman  Conquest.— Thompson's  HisUrry  of  Eng- 
land {Freeman's  Historical  Course).— Thiem/s  History  of  the  Norman  Conquest.— 
Palgrave's  Normandy  and  England.—  Cobb's  History  of  tJie  Norman  kings  of  Eng- 
land.—Green's  Making  of  England.— Fr€eman''s  Old  English  Histm^y.—  The  Norman 
Kings  and  Feudal  System  ;  the  Early  Plantagenets  ;  Edward  III.  ;  Houses  of  Lancas- 
ter and  York  {Epochs  of  History  Series). — Smith's  History  of  English  Institutions 
{Historical  Hand-book  Series).— Burton's  History  of  Scotland  (the  standard  authority). 
—Strickland's  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  England.— Gj^een's  Lives  of  the  Princesses  of 
England. — St.  John^s  Four  Conquests  of  England.— Shakspere's  King  John  {Ar- 
thur); aiso  Henry  IV. •>  F.,  FZ,  and  Richard  III.—Bulwer's  Last  of  tlie  Barons.— 
Kingsley's  Hereward,  the  Last  of  the  Saxons.—  The  "  Babee's  Book.''"' 

France.— Godwin's  {Vol.  /.),  White's,  Smith's,  Sism^ndVs,  MicheleVs,  Bonne- 
chose's,  Markham's,  Crowe's,  Kitchin's,  Tonge's,  and  Edwards's  Histories  of  France. 
—Barnes's  Brief  History  of  France.— Thierry's  History  of  the  Gauls.— Guizot's  Pop- 
ular History  of  France.— MartirCs  Histoire  de  France. — Duruy's  Histoire  de  France. — 
Byron's  Childe  Harold  {Morat).— James's  Philip  Augustus,  Mary  of  Burgundy,  and 
Jacquerie  {fiction).— Southey's  Joan  of  Arc  {poetry).— Harnet  Parr's  Joan  of  Arc- 
Scott's  Quendn  Du7'ward  {fiction).— Jamison's  Bertrand  du  Guesclin,— Kirk's  Life 
of  Charles  the  Bold.— Memoirs  of  Philippe  de  Comines.—Buiwer  Lyttons  translation 
of  the  Poem  of  Jtou{Bollo).—BulfincKs  Legends  of  Charlemagne.— James's  Life  of 
Charlemagne.—  Scott's  Marmion,  Canto  6,  Stanza  33  {Poland). 

Gebmant.—  Taylor's,  Lewis's,  MenzeVs,  and  Kohlrausch's  Histories  of  Germany. — 
Bryce's  Holy  Roman  Empire.— Sim^' s  History  of  Germany  {Freeman's  Course).— 
Coxe's  House  qf  Austria.— Raumer's  History  of  the  Hohenstauf en.— Kington's  lAfe  of 
Frederick  Il.—Peake's  History  of  the  German  Emperors.— Abbott' s  Empire  of  Aus- 
tria.—Schiller's  Drama  of  William  Tell.— Scott's  Ballad  of  the  Battle  of  Sempach. 

StAiN,  Italt,  Turkey,  Btc.— Hunt's  Italy  (Freeman's  Course).— Lying's  Ma- 
homst  and  his  Successors,  and  Conquest  of  Granada.— Sismondi's  History  of  Italian 
Republics.- Campbeir 8  Life  of  Petrarch.— Longfellow's  Dante.— Roscoe's  Life  of 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici.— Prescott's  History  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.—  ViUari's  Life  of 
Savonarola.- Grimm's  Life  of  Michael  Angelo.—  Ockley's  History  of  the  Saracens.— 
Symonds's  Renaissance  in  Italy.— Taine's  Art  in  Italy.— Creasy' s  History  of  the  Otto- 
man Turks.— Freeman's  History  and  Conquests  of  the  Saracens.-Lytton's  Siege  of 
Granada  (fiction). 


CHRONOLOGY. 


FIFTH   CENTURY  (Concluded). 

(See  Anc.  Peo.,  p.  312.) 

A.  D. 

Attila  defeated  in  battle  of  ChSlons.    451 

Clovis  wins  battle  of  Soissons 48'J 

Theodoric  with  the  Ostrogoths  con- 
quers Italy 489-493 

Clovis  becomes  a  Christian 496 

SIXTH    CENTURY. 

Paris,  Clovis's  capital 510 

Arthur  in  Britain  (conjectured) 515 

Time  of  Justinian 527-65 

Belisarius  in  Africa,  533  ;  in  Italy.  .536-9 
Silk  Manufacture  brought  to  Europe  551 
End  of  Ostrogoth  Kingdom  in  Italy.  553 
Lombards  conquer  Italy 568 


A.  D. 

Birth  of  Mohammed  570 

St.  Augustine  introduces  Christian- 
ity into  Britain 596 

SEVENTH    CENTURY. 

The  Hegira 622 

Mohammed's  Death 632 

Omar  captures  Jerusalem 637 

Sixth  General  Council,  at  Constan- 
tinople  680 

EIGHTH    CENTURY. 

Saracens  invade  Spain 711 

Martel    overthrows     Saracens     at 
Tours 732 


CHRONOLOGY. 


419 


A.  D. 

Pepin    the  Short  1)60011168  king.— 

Carlo vingian  Dynasty  founded. ..  752 

Gift  of  Exarchate  to  Pope 7&4 

Emirate  of  Cordova  founded 755 

Charlemagne  becomes  sole  king  of 

the  Franks 771 

Battle  of  Roncesvalles 778 

Haroun  al  Raschid  caliph 786 

Seventh  General  Council,  at  Nice..  787 

Danes  first  land  in  Britain,  about ...  789 

Cliariemague  crowned  at  Rome 800 

NINTH    CENTURY. 

Death  of  Charlemagne 814 

Egbert,  first  king  of  England 827 

Battle  of  Fontenay 841 

Treaty  of  Verdun 843 

Russia  founded  by  Ruric 862 

Alfred  king  of  England 871-901 

TENTH    CENTURY. 

Alfred's  Death 901 

Rollo  the  Norseman  founds  Nor- 
mandy      911 

Otto  the  Great,  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many   93&-73 

Hugh  Capet  crowned  ;  founds  Cape- 
tian  Dynasty 987 

ELEVENTH    CENTURY. 

Canute  (Knut)  king  of  England. .  .1017-35 

Normans  conquer  South  Italy 1040 

Edward  the  Confessor  restores  Sax- 
on Line  in  England 1042 

Guelf  and  Ghibelline  Feud  begins. .  1061 

Normans  conquer  England 1006 

Turks  capture  Jerusalem 1076 

First  Crusade 1096 

TWELFTH    CENTURY. 

Guiscard    of    Normandy,   king   of 

Naples 1102 

Knights  Templar  founded 1118 

Second  Crusade 1117 

Plantagenet  Line  founded 1154 

Henry  II.  invades  Ireland 1171 

Third  Crusade 1189 

THIRTEENTH    CENTURY. 

Fourth  Crusade 1202 

War  against  Albigenses  1208 


A.  D. 

Battle  of  Runnymede.— John  grants 

Magna  Charta.   1215 

Fifth  Crusade 1218 

Sixth  Crusade 1228 

Genghis  Khan.— Gregory  IX.  estab- 
lishes Inquisition 1233 

Seventh  Crusade ...   1249 

Monguls  sack  Bagdad 1258 

Eighth  Crusade 1270 

Hapsburg  Line  founded 1273 

Teutonic  Order  conquers  Prussia. . .  1281 

Edward  I.  conquers  Wales 1283 

Turks  capture  Acre.— End  of  Cru- 
sades   1291 

Edward  conquers  Scotland 1296 

FOURTEENTH    CENTURY. 

Pope  removes  to  Avignon 1305 

Wallace  executed 1305 

Battle  of  Bannockburn 1314 

Battle  of  Morgarten 1315 

Hundred-Years  War 1328-1453 

Battle  of  Crecy 1346 

Calais  surrendered 1347 

Rienzi,  tribune  of  Rome 1347 

Battle  of  Poitiers 1356 

Pope  returns  to  Rome 1377 

Wat  Tyler's  Insurrection 1381 

Battle  of  Sempach 1386 

FIFTEENTH    CENTURY. 

John  Huss  burned 1415 

Battle  of  Azincourt 1415 

Jeanne  Dare  at  Orleans 1428 

Charles  VII.  crowned  at  Rheiras. . .  1429 

Jeanne  Dare  burned 1431 

Capture  of  Constantinople 1453 

Wars  of  the  Roses 1455-85 

Gutenberg  prints  the  first  book 1456 

Battles  of  Granson,  Morat,  and  Nan- 
cy (Death  of  Charles  the  Bold). . .1476-7 

Lorenzo  de'  Medici  at  FlorenQe 1478 

Union  of  Castile  and  Aragon  under 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 1479 

Battle    of  Bosworth.— Tudor    Line 

founded 1485 

Fall  of  Granada 1492 

Columbus  discovers  America 1492 

Charles  VIII.  invades  Italy 1494 

Vasco  da   Gama  doubles  Cape  of 

Good  Hope ,     1497 

Savonarola  burned 1498 


420 


MEDIEVAL     PEOPLES. 


CONTEMPORARY     SOVEREIGNS. 


ENGLAND. 

William  1 1066 

William  II 1087 


Henry  1 1100 

Stephen 1135 

Henry  II 1154 

Richard  1 1189 

John 1199 


Henry  m 1216 

Edward  1 1272 

Edward  II 1307 

Edward  III 1327 


Richard  n 1377 

Henry  IV 1399 


Henry  V 1413 

Henry  VI 1422 

Edward  IV 1461 

Edward  V 1483 

Richard  m 1483 

Henry  VII 1485 


FRANCE. 
Philip  I 

..  1060 

Louis  VI 

Louis  VII 

Philip  n 

..  1108 
..  1137 

..  1180 

Louis  VIIl 

Louis  IX 

..  1223 
.  1226 

Philip  III 

PhiUpIV 

..  1270 
.  1285 

Louis  X 

.  1314 

Philip  V 

Charles  IV 

Philip  VI  

.  1316 
.  1322 
.  1328 

John 

1350 

Charles  V 

Charles  VI 

.  1364 
.  1380 

Charles  VH 

1422 

Louis  XI 

Charles  VIH 

Louis  XII 

.  1461 
.  1483 

.  1498 

GERMANY. 
Henry  IV 1056 


Henry  V 1106 

Lothaire  H 1125 

Conradlll 1138 

Frederick  Barbarossa  1152 

Henry  VI 1190 

Philip 1197 

Otto  IV 1209 

Frederick  II 1215 

Conrad  IV 1250 

Rudolf 1273 

Adolphus 1292 

Albert  1 1298 


Senry  VH 1308 

Lewis  IV 1314 

Frederick  the  Fair. . .  1314 

Charles  IV 1347 

Wenceslaus 1378 


Rupert 1400 

Sigismund 1410 

Albert  U 1438 

Frederick  III 1440 


Maximilian  I. 


GOLD     FLORIN,    LOUIS    IX. 


Modern   Peoples 


BLACKBOARD    ANALYSIS. 


'  Introduction, 


The  16th 
Century. 


1.  The  Fbbnch  in  Italy. 

2.  The  Age  or  Chables  V 


The  Rise  op  the  Dutch 

PUBLIC. 


Ji: 

Re-  J  2. 


The   French 
Wabs. 


Civil-Religious 


5.  England  under  the  Tudors. 


Charles  VIII. 

Louis  XII. 

Francis  I. 

The  Rivalry  of  Charles  and 
Francis. 

The  Reformation. 

The  Netherlands. 

The  Reformation. 

The  Duke  of  Alva. 
L  4.  The  Forty-Years  War. 
r  1.  The  Reformation  in  France. 

2.  Francis  II. 

3.  Charles  IX. 

4.  Henry  HI. 

5.  Henry  IV. 

1.  Henry  VII. 

2.  Henry  VIII. 

3.  Edward  VI. 

4.  Mary. 

5.  Elizabeth. 

1.  Causes. 

2.  Opening  of  the  War. 

3.  Imperial  Triumph. 
Tilly. 


'  1.  The  Thirty- Years  War. 


The  17th 
\  Century. 


-!  2. 


The  18th 
Centurv. 


h.  Leipsic. 
Gustavus    J  c.  Wallensfein. 
Adolphus.  I  d.  Liitzen. 
e.  Death  of 
t  Gustavus. 

5.  Remainder  of  War. 

6.  Peace  of  Westphalia. 
(1.  Age  of  Richelieu. 
)  2.  Age  of  Louis  XIV. 
f  1.  James  I. 

2.  Charles  I. 

3.  The  Civil  War. 
I  4.  The  Commonwealth. 
-(  5.  The  Restoration.  Charles  II. 

6.  James  II. 

7.  Revolution  of  1688.    William 
and  Mary. 

8.  Anne. 
Petee  the  Gbeat  and  Charles  XJI. 

Rise  of  Pbussia:   Age  of  Fbedebick  the  Gbeat. 
1.  George  I. 


The  Absolute  Monarchy  in 
Feancb. 


England  undee  the  Stuaets 
Pebiod  op  the  Civil  Wae. 


England  undee  the  House  op 
Hanoveb. 


4.  The  French  Revolution. 


olu- 
tion. 


The  19th 
Century. 


1.  France. 


England. 

Germany. 

Italy. 

Turkey. 

Greece. 

The  Netherlands. 

Japan. 


2.  George  II. 

3.  George  III. 

4.  See  19th  Century. 

1.  Louis  XV. 

2.  Louis  XVI. 

f  a.  Abolition  of 

3.  French  |  Monarchy. 
Rev-  J  b.  E'gn  of  Terror. 

I  c.  Directory. 
d.  Consulate. 
i.  e.  Empire. 
—(See  Analysis  of  18th  Cent.) 

1.  The  Restoration. 

2.  The  Second  Republic. 

3.  The  Second  Empire. 

4.  The  Third  Republic. 

[The  subdivisions  of  these 
general  topics  may  be  filled  in 
from  the    titles  of  the    para- 

traphs  in  the  text,  as  the  stu- 
ent  proceeds.] 


MODERN    PEOPLES, 


GLOBE   ILLUSTRATING  THE   GEOGRAPHICAL  KNOWLEDGE   OF   THE   FIFTEENTH   CENTURY. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  end  of  the  15th  and  the  beginning  of  the  16th 
century  formed  the  springtime  of  a  new  era.  It  was  an 
epoch  of  important  events:  In  1491,  Charles  VIII.  married 
Anne  of  Brittany,  which  united  to  the  French  crown  the  last 
of  the  great  feudal  provinces  ;  in  1492,  Granada  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  a  conquest  which  established 
the  Spanish  monarchy ;  in  the  same  year^  Columbus  discoy- 


424  MODERN      PEOPLES.  [15th  CENT. 

ered  America,  which  began  a  great  commercial  revolution  ; 
in  1494,  the  Italian  Wars  commenced,  and  with  them  the 
battles  and  rivalries  of  the  chief  European  nations;  in  1508, 
Eaphael  and  Michael  Angelo  were  painting  in  the  Vatican  at 
Rome,  which  marked  a  revolution  in  art ;  in  1517,  Luther 
posted  his  95  theses  on  the  Wittenberg  cathedral  door,  and 
so  inaugurated  the  Reformation ;  in  1521,  Magellan  circum- 
navigated the  globe,  thus  giving  correct  geographical  ideas  ; 
finally,  about  1530,  Copernicus  finished  his  theory  of  the  solar 
system,  which  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch  in  science. 

The  causes  of  this  wonderful  change  were  numerous. 
The  Crusades  kindled  a  spirit  of  trade,  adventure,  and  con- 
quest. Travel  at  the  East  enlarged  the  general  knowledge 
of  the  earth.  The  use  of  the  mariner's  compass  emboldened 
sailors  to  undertake  long  voyages.  Large  cities  had  risen  to 
be  centers  of  freedom,  commerce,  manufactures,  and  wealth. 
The  Revival  of  Learning  in  Italy  stirred  men's  thoughts  in 
every  land.  The  fall  of  Constantinople  scattered  the  treas- 
ures of  Greek  literature  over  the  West;  learned  men,  driven 
from  the  East,  settled  in  Europe  ;  the  philosophy  and  arts  of 
Athens  and  Rome  were  studied  with  zest ;  each  nation  felt, 
in  turn,  the  impulse  of  the  Renaissance  in  art;  and  a  succes- 
sion of  painters,  sculptors,  poets,  and  historians  arose  such  as 
Christendom  had  never  seen.  There  were  now  nearly  forty 
universities  in  Europe,  and  students  traveling  to  and  fro 
among  them  distributed  the  new  ideas,  which  gradually 
trickled  down  into  the  minds  of  the  masses.  Above  all  else, 
two  inventions  revolutionized  Europe. 

Gu7ipowder  *  pierced  the  heaviest  armor,  and  shattered  the 


*  Gunpowder  seems  to  have  been  known  to  the  Chinese  at  an  early  day,  though 
Roger  Bacon,  an  English  monk  of  the  13th  century,  is  called  its  inventor.  Its  appli- 
cation to  war  is  ascribed  to  a  German  named  Schwartz  (1330),  but,  long  before  that, 
the  Moors  used  artillery  in  the  defence  of  Cordova.  The  English  at  Cr^cy  had  three 
small  cannon.   The  French  under  Louis  XI.  invented  trunnions,  a  light  carriage,  and 


15th  cent.] 


I  N  T  R  0  I)  U  C  T  I  0  IS^ 


425 


strongest  wall.  The  foot-soldier  with  his  musket  could  put 
to  flight  the  knight-errant  with  his  lance.  Standing  armies 
of  infantry  and  artillery  took  the  place  of  the  feudal  levy. 
This  changed  the  whole  art  of  war.  The  king  was  now 
stronger  than  the  noble. 


THE    INVENTION    OF   PRINTING. 


Printing  by  means  of  movable  types  was  invented  by 
Gu'tenberg  of  Mentz,  who  issued  in  1456  a  Latin  Bible. 
Books,  which  had  hitherto  been  laboriously  copied  on  parch- 
ment, were  now  rapidly  multiplied,  and  the  cost  was  greatly 
reduced.  Cheaper  books  made  new  readers.  Knowledge 
became  more  widely  diffused. 

The  political  condition  of  Europe  was  that  of  great 

cast-iron  shot,  thus  equipping  a  weapon  serviceable  in  the  field.  Charles  VIII.  owed 
his  rapid  conquest  of  Italy  to  his  park  of  light  artillery  that  was  in  striking  contrast 
to  the  cumbersome  Italian  bombards  dragged  about  with  great  difficulty  by  oxen  and 
firing  stone  balls. 


426  MOBERK     PEOPLES.  [15th  cent. 

monarchies,  each  ready  to  turn  its  forces  against  the  others. 
The  so-called  "States-System"  now  arose.  Its  object  was 
the  preservation  of  the  Balance  of  Power,  i.  e.,  the  preventing 
any  state  from  getting  a  superiority  over  the  rest.  Thence 
came  alliances  and  counter-alliances  among  the  different 
nations,  and  various  schemes  of  diplomacy  that  often  bewil- 
der the  student  of  modern  history. 

Maritime  Discoveries. — Up  to  this  time,  the  known 
world  comprised  only  Europe,  southwestern  Asia,  and  a 
strip  of  northern  Africa.  The  rich  products  of  the  East 
were  still  brought  to  the  West  by  way  of  Alexandria  and 
Venice.  Cape  Non,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  by  its  very  name 
declared  the  belief  that  there  was  nothing  attainable  beyond. 
The  sea  at  the  equator  was  thought  to  be  boihng  hot,  and 
the  maps  represented  the^Occident  as  bristling  with  monsters. 

The  Portuguese  sailors,  under  the  auspices  of  Prince 
John,  and  King  John  IT.,  ventured  each  voyage  further 
southward,  crossed  the  dreaded  equator,  and,  sailing  under 
the  brighter  stars  of  a  new  hemisphere,  step  by  step  explored 
the  African  coast,  until  finally  Diaz  (1487)  doubled  the  con- 
tinent. The  southern  point  he  well  named  the  Cape  of 
Storms;  but  King  John,  seeing  now  a  way  to  reach  India 
by  sea,  rechristened  it  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Eleven  years 
later,  Vasco  da  Gama  realized  this  sanguine  expectation.  He 
rounded  the  cape,  sailed  across  the  Indian  Ocean,  landed  on 
the  Malabar  coast,  and  returned  home  with  a  cargo  of  Indian 
products.  The  old  routes  across  the  Mediterranean,  through 
Egypt  and  the  Levant,  were  now  nearly  abandoned.  The 
Portuguese  soon  made  a  settlement  on  the  Malabar  coast. 
Their  commercial  establishments,  shipping  by  sea  directly 
to  Europe,  quickly  gathered  up  the  Eastern  trade.  Lisbon, 
instead  of  Venice,  became  the  great  dep6t  of  Indian  pro- 
ducts. 


GREAT  VOYAGES  OF  DISCOVERY  SINCE  THE  1 


ENTURY  ANi>  PRINCIPAL  COLONIAL  POSSESSIONS. 


Denmark 


irry.  iS27 


France  f  '~\  i  Netherlands  I         I 

^    V^'.FBANZ  JOSEF  LAND 


<*. 


<^ 


CooTc  i7j^ 


)^ 


WILKE1UAND  ^-^  '"VictoVl*.    f 


1498.] 


I  N  T  K  O  D  U  C  T  I  0  :N  . 


427 


A  SHIP   OF  THE   FIFTEENTH   CENTURY. 
(From  a  drawing  attributed  to  Columbus.) 


Cohimlus,  meanwhile,  in- 
spired by  the  same  hope  of  ^^ 
finding  a  sea-route  to  India, 
and  believing  the  earth  to  be 
round,  sailed  westward.  He 
reached,  not  India,  as  he  sup- 
posed, but  a  new  world.  On 
his  third  voyage,  the  very 
year  that  Da  Gama  solved  the 
problem,  Columbus  first  saw 
the  coast  of  South  America. 

Adventurers  of  many  na- 
tions eagerly  flocked  through 
the  door  Columbus  had 
thrown  open.  The  names 
of  Vespucci,  Balboa,  Cartier, 

Ponce  De  Leon,  and  De  Soto  are  familiar  to  every  student  of 
American  history.  The  Cabots,  sailing  under  the  English 
flag,  explored  the  coast  of  the  new  world  from  Labrador  to 
Chesapeake  Bay.  Cabral,  a  Portuguese  navigator,  in  1500, 
took  possession  of  Brazil  in  the  name  of  his  king.  Finally, 
Magellan  passed  through  the  strait  still  known  by  his  name, 
and  crossed  the  Pacific  to  the  Philippine  Islands;  there  he 
was  killed  by  the  savage  natives,  but  one  of  his  ships,  con- 
tinuing the  voyage,  circumnavigated  the  globe  (1521). 

Mesico,  when  discovered  by  the  Spaniards,  had  reached, 
under  the  Montezumas — its  Aztec  rulers,  a  considerable 
degree  of  civilization.  Its  laws  were  written  in  hiero- 
glyphics ;  its  judges  were  chosen  for  life ;  its  army  was  fur- 
nished with  music,  hospitals,  and  surgeons  ;  its  calendar 
was  mare  accurate  than  the  Spanish  ;  its  people  were  skilled 
in  agriculture  and  the  arts;  and  its  capital,  Mexico,  was  sup- 
plied with  aqueducts,  and  adorned  with  palaces  and  temples. 


428  MODERN^     PEOPLES.  [1519-'21. 

The  Aztecs,  however,  were  idolaters  and  cannibals  ;  and  their 
civilization  was  ignorant  of  horse,  ox,  plough,  printing,  and 
gunpowder. 

Cortes,  with  a  little  army  of  600  Spaniards,  fearlessly 
invaded  this  powerful  empire.  His  cannon  and  cavalry  car- 
ried terror  to  the  simple-minded  natives.  A  war  of  three 
years,  crowded  with  romance  as  with  cruelty,  completed  the 
conquest.     Mexico  remained  a  province  of  Spain  until  1821. 

Peru,  under  the  Incas,  was  perhaps  richer  and  more  power- 
ful than  Mexico.  Two  great  military  roads  extended  the 
entire  length  of  the  empire,  and  along  them  the  public 
couriers  carried  the  news  200  miles  per  day.  A  vast  system 
of  water-works,  more  extensive  than  that  of 'Egypt,  irrigated 
the  rainless  regions,  and  agriculture  had  attained  a  high 
degree  of  perfection.  The  government  was  paternal,  the 
land  being  owned  by  the  Inca,  and  a  portion  assigned  to 
each  person  to  cultivate.  Royal  officers  directed  the  indus- 
try of  this  great  family  in  tillage,  weaving,  etc.,  and,  thpugh 
no  one  could  rise  above  his  station,  it  was  the  boast  of  the 
country  that  every  one  had  work,  and  enjoyed  the  comforts 
of  life. 

Pizarro,  an  unprincipled  Spanish  adventurer,  overthrew 
this  rich  empire  (1533),  and  imprisoned  the  Inca.  The 
unfortunate  captive  offered,  for  his  ransom,  to  fill  his  cell 
with  gold  vessels,  as  high  as  he  could  reach ;  but,  after  he 
had  collected  over  115,000,000  worth,  he  was  strangled  by 
his  perfidious  jailers. 

The  Spanish  Colonies  i-arely  prospered.  In  Mexico,  Cortes 
sought  to  rule  wisely.  He  sent  home  for  priests  and  learned  men  ; 
founded  schools  and  colleges ;  and  introduced  European  plants  and 
animals.  But,  on  his  return  to  Spain,  he  became,  like  Columbus,  a 
victim  of  ingratitude,  though  he  had  given  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
**more  states  than  Charles  had  inherited  cities." 

In  general,  the  Spanish  governors  destroyed  the  native  civilization, 


INTRODUCTION^. 


429 


without  introducing  the  European.  The  thirst  for  gold  was  the  princi- 
pal motive  that  drew  men  to  the  new  world.  The  natives  were  portioned 
among  the  conquerors,  and  doomed  to  work  in  the  mines.  It  is  said 
that  four-fifths  of  the  Peruvians  perished  in  this  cruel  bondage.  The 
kind-hearted  Las  Casas,  the  apostle  of  the  Indians,  spent  his  life  in 
vainly  seeking  to  alleviate  their  miseries,  convert  them  to  Christianity, 
and  obtain  for  them  governmental  protection.  To  supply  the  fearful 
waste  of  the  population,  negroes  were  brought  from  Africa,  and  so 
slavery  and  the  slave-trade  were  established.  The  Spaniards  turned  to 
agriculture  only  when  gold-hunting  ceased  to  pay  ;  and,  not  being  a 
trading  people,  their  colonial  commerce  fell  chiefly  into  the  hands  of 
foreigners.  For  a  time,  however,  the  Spanish  coflFers  were  running 
over  with  American  gold  and  silver. 

READING    REFER  ENCES. 

Heereii's  Manual.  -Dijefs  History  of  Modern  Europe.— Heeren^s  Historical  Trea- 
tises.—Yonge's  Three  Centuries  of  Modern  History.  Arnold's  Lectures  on  Modern 
History.  —  Thallieimer'' s  Manual  of  Modern  History  —MicheleVs  Modern  History. - 
Duruy's  Histoire  des  Temps  Modernes.— Irving'  s  Life  of  Columbus.— Parkman'  s  Pio- 
neers of  France.— Help's  Spanish  Conguest  of  America.— PrescotVs  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  {Columbus).— Wallace's  Fair  Ood  iflction).— Barnes's  Brief  Hist,  of  the  U.  S. 
—Barnes's  Popidar  Hist,  of  tlie  U.  S.—Squier's  Ancient  Peru,  Harper's  Mag.,  Vol.  7.- 
Abbott's  Cortez,  Harper  s  Mag..  Vol.  12.— Abbott's  Columbus,  Harper's  Mag..  Vol.  38. 
—Higginson's  Spanish  Discoveries,  Harper's  Mag.  Vol.65.—Eggleston's  Beginning 
of  a  Nation,  Centuiy  Magazine,  Vol.  35.— Fitzgerald's  Kings  of  Europe  and  their 
families  (excellent  for  genealogy). 


1 .  iid'  SCdbimuc 


llllllllll^ 


TOMD  OF  COLUMBUS  AT  HAVANA. 


430  THE     SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 

THE    SIXTEENTH   CENTURY. 

I.   THE    FRENCH    IN    ITALY. 

The  Invasion  of  Italy  (1494)  by  the  French  may  be  con- 
sidered the  opening  event  of  modern  history.  Its  progress, 
by  the  many  leagues  that  were  formed,  illustrates  the  growth 
of  the  new  States-System. 

Charles  VIII.  (1483-'98),  filled  with  dreams  of  rivaling 
Alexander  and  Charlemagne,  resolved  to  assert  the  claim  of 
his  house  to  the  kingdom  of  Naples.*  Milan,  Florence,  and 
Eome  opened  their  gates  to  his  powerful  army.  He  entered 
Kaples  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  populace.  This  bril- 
liant success  turned  the  head  of  the  weak  king,  and  he  gave 
himself  up  to  feasts  and  tournaments.  Meanwhile,  the  first 
extended  league  in  modern  history  was  formed  by  Milan, 
Venice,  the  pope,  Maximilian  of  Germany,  and  Ferdinand  of 
Spain,  to  expel  the  invader.  Charles  retreated  as  hastily  as 
he  had  come,  and  by  the  victory  of  Fornova  secured  his 
escape  into  France. 

Louis  XII.  (1498-1515),  inheriting  the  schemes  of  Charles 

Geographical  Quesfiong .—Locate  Naples.  Milan.  Fornova.  "Venice.  Pavia. 
Marignano.  Genoa.  Vienna.  Wittenberg.  Augsburg.  Smalcald.  Nuremburg. 
Innspruck.  Passau.  Trent.  Guinegate.  Calais.  Toul.  Verdun,  Rouen.  Crespy. 
Passy.  Ivry.  Nantes.  Antwerp.  Leyden.  Amsterdam.  Harlem.  Ghent.  Edin- 
burgh. Flodden.  Plymouth.  Point  out  the  ten  provinces  of  the  Southern  or  Spanish 
Netherlands  ;  the  seven  of  Northern  or  United  Netherlands  ;.  the  limits  of  the  Spanish  ^ 
Empire  in  the  16th  century. 

*  The  dukes  of  Anjou,  a  branch  of  the  house  of  France  (page  355),  having  been 
expelled 'from  Italy,  became  established  in  the  petty  principality  of  Provence.  After 
the  death  of  Ren6,  who,  according  to  Shakspere,  bore 

"  The  style  of  king  of  Naples, 
Of  both  the  Sicilies  and  Jerusalem, 
Yet  not  so  wealthy  as  an  English  yeoman," 

the  province  and  the  claim  of  the  house  fell  to  Louis  XI.    (Brief  France,  p.  106.) 


1494.] 


THE     FRENCH     IK     ITALY 


431 


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ITALY  ETC.    A 

FROM  THE  15th  CENTURY 


VIII.  and  also  a  claim  to  Milan,  led  the  second  expedition 
across  the  Alps.  Milan  quickly  fell  into  his  hands.  •  An 
arrangement  was  then  made  with  Ferdinand  to  di\ide  Naples 
between  them ;  but  the  conquerors  quarreled  over  the  spoil, 
and  the  French  army,  in  spite  of  the  heroism  of  the  Chevalier 
Bayard,  was  beaten  back  from  Naples  by  the  Spanish  infantry 
under  the  ^^ Great  Captain"  Gonsalvo. 


432 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CENTURY. 


[1508. 


Three  Leagues. — Louis  next  joined  the  League  of  Cambrai 
(Ferdinand,  Maximilian,  and  Pope  Julius  II.)  against  Venice. 
Just  as  the  fall  of  that  republic  seemed  at  hand,  jealousies 
arose  among  the  confederates.  Pope  Julius  suddenly  turned 
the  scale  by  forming  the  Holy  League  (Ferdinand,  Maxi- 
milian, Venice,  and  the  Swiss),  which  drove  the  French  out 
of  Italy.  But  Louis,  now  allied  with  Venice,  again  descended 
upon  Milan.  The  League  ofMalines  (Ferdinand,  Maximilian, 
Henry  VIIL,  and  Leo  X. )  stayed  his  steps  anew.  Henry  VIII. 
inyaded  France,  and  at  Guinegate  the  French  cavalry  fled 
so  fast  before  him  that  the  victory  is  known  as  the  Battle 
of  the  Spurs.  Louis,  beaten  on  all  sides,  was  glad  to  make 
peace. 
Francis  I.  (1515-47),  also  lured  by  the  deceitful  lustre 

of  Italian  conquest,  be- 
gan his  reign  by  pour- 
ing his  troops  over  the 
Alps,  through  paths 
known  only  to  the 
chamois-hunter.  The 
Swiss  mercenaries 
guarding  the  passes 
were  taken  by  surprise, 
and  finally  beaten  in 
the  bloody  battle  of 
Marignano  (1515). 
The  French  were  in- 
toxicated with  joy. 
Francis  was  dubbed  a 
knight  on  the  field  by 
the  Chevalier  Bayard.  Milan  fell  without  a  blow.  The 
Swiss  made  with  France  a  treaty  known  as  the  Perpetual 
Peace,  since  it  lasted  as  long  as  the  old  French  monarchy. 


FRANCIS    1. — (AFTER   TITIAN.) 


THEAGE     OF     CHARLES     V.  433 

II.    THE  AGE  OF  CHARLES  V. 

1.    THE  RIVALRY  OF  CHARLES  AND  FRANCIS. 

Spain  was  now  the  leading  power  in  Europe.  Ferdinand 
ruled  Spain,  Sardinia,  Sicily,  Naples,  and  vast  regions  in 
the  New  World — the  gift  of  Columbus  to  the  Castilian 
crown ;  while  his  daughter  Joanna  was  married  to  Philip, 
son  of  Maximilian  of  Austria  and  of  Mary,  daughter  of 
Charles  the  Bold.  When  Charles,  son  of  Philip,  on  the 
death  of  his  grandfather,  Ferdinand,  succeeded  to  the 
crown  of  Spain,  he  added  the  Low  Countries  to  its  pos- 
sessions ;  and,  on  the  death  of  his  other  grandfather,  Maxi- 
milian, he  inherited  the  sovereignty  of  Austria,  and  was 
elected  Emperor  of  Germany  (1519).  It  was  the  grandest 
empire  Europe  had  seen  since  the  days  of  Augustus,  uniting, 
as  it  did,  under  one  sceptre,  the  infantry  of  Spain,  the 
looms  of  Flanders,  and  the  gold  of  Peru. 

Charles's  Rivalry  with  Francis. — Francis  I.  had  been 
a  candidate  for  the  imperial  crown,  and  his  vanity  was  sorely 
hurt  by  Charles's  success.  Henceforth  these  two  monarchs 
were  bitter  enemies.    Their  rivalry  deluged  Europe  in  blood. 

Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  (1520).— Ere  beginning  hos- 
tilities, both  kings  sought  to  win  the  friendship  of  Henry 
VIII.  Francis  met  that  monarch  near  Calais.  The  mag- 
nificence displayed  gave  to  the  field  its  name.  The  two 
kings  feasted  and  played  together  like  school-boys.*  Henry 
swore  not  to  cut  his  beard  until  he  should  again  visit  his 
"good  brother;"  Francis  made  a  like  vow,  and  long  beards 
became  the  latest  French  fashion. 

But  Charles  negotiated  more  quietly,  and,  while  he  flat- 
tered the  bluff  and  good-natured  Henry,  won  his  all-power- 

*  The  three  mightiest  sovereigns  of  Europe  in  the  first  half  of  the  16th  century- 
Henry  Vin.  of  England,  Charles  V.  of  Spain,  and  Francis  I.  of  France— all  assumed 
their  crowns  before  reaching  their  majority. 


434 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CENTURY. 


[1520. 


FIELD    OF   THE   CLOTH    OF   GOLD. 


f  ul  minister,  Cardinal  Wolsey,  by  hopes  of  the  papacy.  A 
league  was  soon  after  formed  of  the  pope,  the  emperor,  and 
the  king  of  England  against  Francis. 

Battle  of  Pavia  (1525). — Italy  was  again  the  principal 
battlefield.  Francis,  anxious  to  renew  the  glories  of  Marig- 
nano,  led  a  magnificent  army  across  the  Alps,  and  besieged 
Pavia.  There  he  was  attacked  by  the  imperialists  under 
Bourbon.*     At  first,  the  French  artillery  swept  all  before  it. 

*  The  duke  of  Bourbon  was  Constable  of  Prftnce.  But  having  been  neglected  by 
the  king  and  wronged  by  the  queen-mother,  he  fled  to  the  enemy  for  revenge,  drove 
the  French  out  of  Italy,  and  invaded  Provence.  Francis  forced  the  imperialists  back, 
and  followed  them  ac-oss  the  Alps,  thus  beginning  the  fatal  campaign  of  Pavia.  Dur- 
ing the  French  retreat,  Chevalier  Bayard  was  struck  by  a  ball  (1534).  Bourbon  coming 
up  offered  him  words  of  cheer.  The  dying  hero  replied,  "  Think  rather  of  yourself  in 
arms  against  your  king,  your  country,  and  your  oath!  "  The  universal  horror  felt  in 
France  at  Bourbon's  treachery  shows  the  increased  sanctity  of  the  royal  authority 
over  feudal  times,  and  the  influence  of  the  recent  revival  of  classic  literature  which 
taught  treason  to  one's  country  to  be  a  crime  of  the  blackest  dye.  The  nobles  who 
joined  in  the  "League  of  the  Public  Good"  with  Charles  the  Bold  against  Louis  XL 
were  not  considered  traitors,  yet  that  was  little  over  half  a  century  before.  (Brief 
France,  p.  115.) 


1526.]  THE     AGE     OF     CHAELES     V.  435 

Francis,  thinking  the  enemy  about  to  flee,  charged  with  his 
knights,  but,  coming  before  his  guns,  checked  their  fire. 
Thereupon  the  imperialists  rallied,  and  a  terrible  hand- 
to-hand  conflict  ensued.  The  flower  of  the  French  nobles 
was  cut  down.  The  Swiss,  forgetting  their  ancient  valor, 
fled.  Francis  himself,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides,  wounded, 
unhorsed,  and  covered  with  blood  and  dust,  at  last  yielded 
his  sword. 

Treaty  of  Madrid. — The  royal  prisoner  was  carried  to 
Madrid,  and  confined  in  the  gloomy  tower  of  the  Alcazar. 
There,  pining  in  captivity,  he  fell  sick.  The  crafty  emperor, 
fearing  to  lose  the  ransom,  released  him,  on  his  agreeing  to 
surrender  Burgundy  and  his  Italian  claims,  and  give  up  his 
two  sons  as  hostages.  On  the  way  home,  Francis  vapored 
much  about  Regulus,  but  quickly  broke  his  promise,  and 
signed  a  treaty  with  the  pope,  Henry,  and  the  Venetians,  to 
drive  the  imperialists  out  of  Italy. 

Sack  of  Rome. — Charles  now  sent  Bourbon  into  Italy. 
His  men  being  unpaid  and  eager  for  plunder,  he  led  them  to 
Rome  as  the  richest  prize.  Bourbon  was  shot  as  he  was 
placing  a  ladder,  but  the  infuriated  soldiery  quickly  scaled 
the  walls.  Never  had  the  Eternal  City  suffered  from  Goth 
or  Vandal  as  she  now  did  from  the  subjects  of  a  Christian 
emperor.*  The  sack  lasted  for  months.  Finally,  a  plague 
carried  off  conquerors  as  well  as  inhabitants,  and,  of  all 
Bourbon's  host,  scarcely  500  men  survived  to  evacuate  the 
city,  on  the  approach  of  the  French  army  of  relief. 

Ladies'  Peace  (1529). — Ere  long,  however,  the  French 
met  with  their  usual  defeat  in  Italy;  Andrea  Doria,  the 
famous  Genoese  patriot,  going  over  to  Charles,  became  admi- 

*  When  Charles  learned  that  the  pope  was  a  prisoner  he  ordered  his  court  into 
mourning  and,  with  strange  hypocrisy,  directed  prayers  to  be  said  for  the  release 
which  he  could  have  effected  by  a  word. 


436  THE     SIXTEENTH     CEKTUEY.  [1529- 

ral  of  the  Spanish  fleet ;  and  so  Francis,  anxious  to  recover 
his  sons  from  the  emperor,  concluded  a  treaty.  As  it  was 
negotiated  by  the  king's  mother  and  the  emperor's  auot,  it 
is  known  in  history  as  the  Ladies'  Peace. 

The  Turks. — Meanwhile,  Charles  had  found  a  new  foe, 
and  Francis,  a  singular  ally.  The  Turks,  under  sultan  Soly- 
man  the  Magnificent,  using  the  cannon  that  breached  the 
walls  of  Constantinople,  had  driven  the  Knights  of  St.  John 
out  of  the  isle  of  Rhodes ;  *  subdued  Egypt ;  devastated 
Hungary ;  f  and  even  appeared  under  the  walls  of  Vienna 
(1529).  Menaced  thus,  Charles,  notwithstanding  his  Italian 
triumphs,  was  very  willing  to  listen  to  the  ladies  when,  as  we 
have  seen,  they  talked  of  peace.  Soon  after,  however,  Soly- 
man  having  made  an  alliance  with  Francis,  who  cared  less 
for  differences  of  faith  than  for  revenge  uj)on  the  emperor, 
raised  a  vast  army,  and,  again  wasting  Hungary,  threatened 
Vienna.  The  flower  and  strength  of  Germany  rallied  under 
Charles's  banners  and  forced  the  infidel  to  an  inglorious 
retreat. 

The  emperor  next  sought  to  cripple  the  Turkish  power  by 
sea.  Crossing  the  Mediterranean,  he  attacked  Tunis  which 
Barbarossa,  the  Algerine  pirate  in  command  of  Solyman's 
fleet,  had  seized.  In  the  midst  of  the  desperate  struggle 
that  ensued,  ten  thousand  Christian  slaves,  confined  in  the 


*  The  knights  made  a  gallant  defence,  a  single  man  with  his  arquebuse  being  said 
to  have  shot  five  hundred  Turks.  Thirty-two  Turkish  mines  were  destroyed,  but 
finally  one  burst,  throwing  down  a  part  of  the  city  wall.  The  Grand  Master,  L'Isle 
Adam,  rushed  from  the  church  where  he  was  at  prayer,  only  to  find  the  Crescent 
already  planted  in  the  opening.  He  instantly  dashed  into  the  midst  of  the  Turks, 
tore  down -the  standard,  and,  with  his  brave  knights,  drove  them  back.  For  thirty- 
four  nights  he  slept  in  the  breach.  At  last,  sorely  against  his  will,  the  Hospitallers 
agreed  to  surrender  their  stronghold.  L'Isle  Adam  sailed  away  with  the  survivors. 
Charles  gave  hira  the  rocky  island  of  Malta.  There  he  established  a  well-nigh  im- 
pregnable fortress  for  the  i)enefit  of  distressed  seamen  of  every  nation. 

t  The  Hungarian  king  having  been  slain  in  the  battle  of  Mokacs  (1526),  the  crown 
ultimately  fell  to  his  brother-in-law,  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  afterward  emperor.  It 
Jias  ever  since  been  held  by  the  archdukes  of  Austria  (p.  385), 


1538]  THE     AGE     OF     CHARLES     V.  437 

castle,  broke  their  fetters,  and  turned  its  guns  upon  their 
masters.  The  city  was  carried  by  assault.  The  released  cap- 
tives were  sent  home,  to  the  joy  of  all  Christendom. 

The  pope  finally  mediated  a  truce  between  the  rivals. 
Charles,  while  eii  route  to  Flanders,  visited  Paris.  Francis 
in  an  ecstasy  of  hospitality  exclaimed  to  his  late  enemy : 
"  Here  we  are  united,  my  brother  and  I.  We  must  have  the 
same  foes  and  the  same  friends.  We  will  equip  a  fleet 
against  the  Turks,  and  Andrea  Doria  shall  be  the  com- 
mander."    Brave  words  all,  but  soon  forgotten. 

The  emperor,  thinkiug  to  blunt  the  edge  of  the  Turkish 
sabre  by  a  second  expedition  against  the  African  pirates, 
sailed  to  Algiers  ;  but  his  ships  were  destroyed  by  a  storm, 
and  his  troops  by  a  famine.  Francis  seized  the  opportunity 
and  raised  five  great  armies  to  attack  Charles's  wide-spread 
empire.  Solyman  invaded  Hungary,  and  Barbarossa  ravaged 
the  coasts  of  Spain  and  Italy.  Europe  was  amazed  to  see  the 
lilies  of  France  and  the  crescent  of  Mohammed  appear  before 
Nice,  and  Christian  captives  sold  by  the  corsairs  in  the  mar- 
ket of  Marseilles.  It  seemed  as  if  the  days  of  Martel  had 
returned,  and  there  was  again  peril  of  a  Mohammedan 
empire  girding  the  Mediterranean  ;  only  the  infidels  were 
now  brutal  Turks  instead  of  refined  Saracens. 

Treaty  of  Crespy  (1544). — But  this  was  not  to  be. 
Henry  renewed  his  alliance  with  Charles,  and  they  invaded 
France  from  opposite  sides.  Charles  was  beaten  at  Cerisolles, 
but  Henry  pushed  to  within  two-days  march  of  Paris. 
Already  its  citizens,  panic-struck,  had  begun  to  move  their 
valuables  to  Rouen,  when  Francis  sued  for  peace.  The 
Treaty  of  Crespy  ended  the  wars  of  these  monarchs  that  for 
nearly  twenty-five  years  had  been  so  fruitful  of  wrong  and 
misery. 


438  THE     SIXTEENTH     CEKTURY, 


2.  THE  REFORMATION. 

The  Refonnation  in  Germany  was  the  great  event  of  the 
16th  century.  Nowhere  else  had  the  Revival  of  Learning 
caused  such  a  general  stir  of  thought.  The  abuses  of  the 
church  had  long  been  a  source  of  sorrow  to  every  sincere 
Christian.  The  bishops,  little  different  from  secular  princes, 
were  fond  of  show,  and  neglectful  of  their  duties  ;  many  of 
the  clergy  were  idle,  ignorant,  and  corrupt ;  while  the  cleri- 
cal fees  and  tithes  were  exacted  with  the  greatest  strictness. 
The  Councils  of  Constance  and  Bale  had,  in  vain,  attempted 
a  reform.  The  revolt  of  the  Albigenses  so  long  before ;  the 
old-time  feuds  between  pope  and  emperor;  the  teachings  of 
Wycliffe,  Huss,  Jerome,  and  Savonarola ;  the  sarcastic  writ- 
ings of  Erasmus  ;  and  now  the  reading  of  the  Bible  itself, — 
all  conspired  to  lead  men  to  doubt  the  authority  of  the 
church,  and  to  demand  freedom  of  thought.  A  little  inci- 
dent brought  every  cause  of  difficulty  to  a  focus. 

Luther's  Attack  on  Indulgences. — ^In  1517,  there  came 
into  Saxony  one  Tetzel,  a  Dominican  friar,  selling  indul- 
gences. The  wickedness  and  impudence  of  this  man,  who 
was  better  fitted  to  receive  than  dispense  pardon  for  sin, 
aroused  general  indignation.  This  feeling  found  vent  when 
Martin  Luther,*  a  professor  in  the  University  at  Wittenberg, 

*  Martin  Lnther  was  born  at  Eisleben,  1483 ;  died,  1546.  "  My  father,"  said  the 
reformer,  "  was  a  poor  wood-cutter,  and  my  mother  has  often  carried  wood  on  her 
bacli  to  get  means  for  raising  her  children."  Martin  was  brought  up  very  strictly ; 
once  at  school  he  was  flogged  fifteen  times  during  a  single  forenoon.  At  fifteen,  he 
became  a  "  wandering  scholar  "  in  Eisenach,  earning  his  bread,  after  the  custom  of  the 
day,  by  singing  in  the  streets.  His  diligence  and  studiousness,  as  weil  as  his  sweet 
voice,  won  him  friends,  and,  finally,  his  father  becoming  able  to  aid  him,  Martin  fin- 
ished his  education  at  the  University  of  Erfurt.  The  reading  of  a  Bible,  then  a  rare 
book  and  hence  chained  to  the  desk  in  the  library,  awakened  his  thought,  and,  against 
his  father's  wish,  he  entered  an  Augustine  monastery.  In  1508,  he  was  appointed 
professor  in  the  University  at  Wittenberg,  just  founded  by  the  Elector  Frederick ;  in 
1510,  going  to  Rome  on  business  for  his  order,  he  saw  so  much  of  the  wickedness  of  the 
priesthood  in  that  time  of  deep  spiritual  darkness  that  he  returned  home  bent  upon 
reform.    Toward  the  town  where  this  zealous,  flaming  preacher  was  crying  to  crowds 


1517.]  THE     AGE     OF     CHAELES     V.  439 

nailed  on  the  cathedral  door,  after  the  manner  of  scholars  of 
the  time,  95  propositions  which  he  stood  ready  to  defend. 
These  asserted  that  absolution  could  be  pronounced  only 
after  repentance,  and  that  the  sale  of  indulgences  being 
contrary  to  Scripture  and  the  true  Catholic  faith  must  be 
unknown  to  the  pope. 

Luther  Bums  the  Papal  Bull  (1520).— At  first  Leo 
paid  little  attention  to  the  controversy  which  now  ensued, 
esteeming  it  merely  a  quarrel  between  the  Augustine  and 
the  Dominican  friars.  Finally,  the  thunder  of  the  Vatican 
broke.  The  daring  preacher  was  excommunicated.  Luther 
replied  by  publicly  burning  the  papal  bull.  Friends  gathered 
about  the  fiery  monk.  The  elector  of  Saxony  refused  to  give 
up  his  popular  professor.  Ulric  von  Hutten,  a  scholar- 
knight,  poised  his  poet's  pen  in  Luther's  defence;  while 
Phihp  Melanchthon,  a  gentle  young  man  deep  in  Greek  and 
Hebrew,  stood  bravely  by  his  side. 

Luther  at  Worms  (1521). — The  emperor  Charles  held 
his  first  diet  at  Worms.  Thither  Luther  was  summoned  to 
answer  for  his  heresy.  To  his  friends  who,  remembering  the 
fate  of  Huss,  dissuaded  him  from  complying,  he  replied, 
*^Were  there  as  many  devils  in  Worms  as  tiles  on  the  roof, 
yet  would  I  go."  Standing  alone  in  the  august  presence  of 
the  emperor  and  in  the  midst  of  the  brilliant  assembly  of 
cardinals,  bishops,  and  courtiers,  the  pale  monk  refused  to 
recant.  "It  is  neither  safe  nor  wise,"  he  exclaimed,  "  to  do 
anything  against  conscience.  Here  I  stand.  God  help  me  !" 
Having  the  emperor's  safe-conduct,*  Luther  was  allowed  to 
depart ;  but  he  was  denounced  as  a  heretic,  and  his  supporters 
were  put  under  the  ban  of  the  empire. 

of  eager  listeners,  "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  came  Tetzel,  The  result  could  have 
been  easfly  foreseen. 

*  Charles  was  urged  to  break  his  word,  and  not  let  Luther  go  home  under  his  safe- 
conduct ;  but  he  nobly  replied,  "  No  I  I  do  not  mean  to  blush  like  Sigismund  "  (p.  386). 


440 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CEKTURY 


[1520. 


LUTHER   BEFORE   THE   DIET  OF  WORMS. 


After  the  diet,  Charles  left  Germany,  and,  absorbed  in  his 
great  struggle  with  Francis,  did  not  return  for  nine  years. 

Luther's  Fatmos. — By  order  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony, 
who  determined  to  conceal  Luther  until  the  storm  blew  over, 
the  reformer  was  carried,  by  knights  in  disguise,  to  the  lonely 
castle  of  the  Wartburg.  In  this  quiet  retreat,  which  he  called 
his  Patmos,  he  staid  nearly  a  year,  engaged  in  translating  the 
Bible  into  German.* 

*  This  book  was  not  finished  until  1534,  though  Luther  was  aided  hy  Melanchthon, 
and  other  scholars  Up  to  this  time,  there  was  no  language  accepted  throughout  the 
empire.  •  The  learned  wrote  in  Latin  ;  the  minnesingers,  in  Swabian  ;  and  many  used 
the  dialects— Saxon,  Franconian,  etc.  Luther,  passing  by  the  diction  of  the  theologi- 
cal schools  and  the  courts,  sought  the  expressive  phrases  employed  by  the  people. 
For  this  purpose,  he  visited  the  market-place  and  social  gatherings,  often  spending 
days  over  a  single  phrase.  No  sentence  was  admitted  into  the  translation  until  it  had 
crystallized  into  pure,  idiomatic  German.  Thus  Luther  did  more  than  he  dreamed. 
The  Bible  soon  became  the  model  of  style  ;  and  its  High-German,  the  standard  of 
cultivated  conversation  and  polite  literature. 


1522.]  THE     AGE     OF     CHARLES     V.  441 

'  Progress  of  the  Reformation. — When  Luther  returned 
to  his  old  pulpit,  the  Reformation  went  on  apace.  Several 
powerful  princes  adopted  the  Lutheran  doctrines.  In  their 
provinces,  convents  were  suppressed;  church  lands  confis- 
cated ;  services  held  in  the  language  of  the  people ;  and 
monks  permitted  to  marry,  Luther  setting  the  example  by 
wedding  Catliarine  von  Bora,  a  nun. 

The  new  doctrines  rapidly  spread*  into  northern  Ger- 
many, France,  Switzerland,!  England,  Scotland,  Denmark, 
Norway,  and  Sweden.  The  Teutonic  nations,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  finally  adopted  them  in  some  form,  while  the 
Latin  nations  remained  faithful  to  the  church  of  Rome. 

Lutherans  called  Protestants  (1529). — Archduke  Fer- 
dinand, alarmed  by  the  progress  of  the  reformers  under 
Luther  and  of  the  Turks  under  Solyman,  called  a  diet  at 
Spires.  The  Catholics,  being  in  the  majority,  passed  a  decree 
forbidding  any  further  change  in  religion.  The  Lutheran 
princes  and  cities  formally  protested  against  this  action — 
whence  they  were  called  Protestants. 

The  Ladies'  Peace  now  giving  Charles  leisure,  he  revisited 
Germany,  and  held  a  diet  at  Augsburg.  X    A  statement  of  the 

*  Princes  and  cities,  vexed  at  the  money  drained  from  their  people  by  the  Koman 
pontiff,  and  quite  willing  to  secure  the  vai^t  possessions  of  the  church,  saw  their  inter- 
ests lyin?  along  the  line  of  the  new  faith.  So  "  policy  was  more  Lutheran  than  relig- 
ious reform."  and  they  eagerly  seized  upon  this  opportunity  to  emancipate  themselves 
at  once  from  emperor  and  pope.  Thus  the  Reformation  gradually  became  a  struggle 
for  political  power  quite  as  much  as  for  religious  freedom. 

t  Switzerland  had  its  own  reformation.  Zwingle,  the  leader,  was  more  radical 
than  Luther.  He  wished  to  purify  state  as  well  as  church.  After  his  death  in  battle, 
the  people  of  Geneva  invited  thither  the  great  French  reformer,  Calvin,  Ecclesiasti- 
cal courts  were  established,  and  a  rigid  discipline  was  enforced  that  reached  to  the 
minutest  detail  of  life.  Under  this  despotic  rule  Geneva  became  the  most  moral  city 
in  Europe,  and  the  home  of  letters  and  orthodoxy.  Calvin's  doctrines,  more  than 
those  of  any  other  reformer,  molded  men's  minds.  The  Huguenots,  the  Dutch  Wal- 
loons, the  Scotch  Presbyterians,  and  the  New  England  Puritans,  all  were  stamped 
with  his  type  of  thought. 

X  Charles  was  entertained  at  the  splendid  mansion  of  Anthony  Fugger,  a  famous 
merchant-prince  of  Augsburg.  At  the  close  of  the  visit,  the  host  invited  the  emperor 
into  his  study  and  there  threw  upon  a  fire  of  cinnamon— then  a  very  costly  spice— the 
bonds  which  Charles  had  given  him  for  loans  to  carry  on  his  wars  with  Francis, 


442  THE     SIXTEENTH     CEiq^TURY.  [1530. 

Protestant  doctrine  was  here  read  which  afterward  became 
famous  as  the  Augsburg  Confession — the  creed  of  the  Ger- 
man reformers.  Instead  of  one  poor  monk,  as  at  Worms, 
Charles  had  now  to  deal  with  half  of  Germany.  But  he 
again  denounced  the  heresy,  and  put  all  who  held  it  under 
the  ban  of  the  empire. 

Smalcaldic  League  (1531). — The  Protestant  princes 
organized  at  Smalcald  for  mutual  protection.  But  Soly- 
man  having  once  more  marched  upon  Vienna,  Charles,  in 
the  face  of  this  peril,  granted  the  reformers  liberty  of  con- 
science. Forthwith,  the  Protestants  and  Catholics  gathered 
under  the  imperial  banner,  and  the  Turks  hastily  retreated. 
Charles  now  left  Germany  for  another  nine-years  absence. 

Smalcaldic  War  (1546-'7).— The  treaty  of  Crespy  free- 
ing Charles  from  further  fear  of  Francis,  he  determined  to 
crush  the  Reformation.  The  Council  of  Trent  (1545-'63) 
was  called,  but  the  Protestants,  taking  no  part  in  the  deliber- 
ations, rejected  its  decrees.  Meanwhile,  civil  war  broke  out. 
The  Protestant  leaders  were  irresolute.  Prince  Maurice  of 
Saxony  abjured  the  reformed  religion,  joined  Charles,  and 
overran  the  territory  of  his  cousin,  the  Elector  Frederick. 
The  league  fell  to  pieces.  Only  Frederick  and  Philip,  the 
landgrave  of  Hesse,  remained  in  the  field.  Charles,  bold 
and  wary  as  ever,  defeated  and  captured  the  former,  while 
Maurice  persuaded  the  latter,  his  father-in-law,  to  surrender. 

Charles's  Triumph  now  seemed  complete.  The  boldest 
Protestant  leaders  were  in  prison.  The  sword  of  Francis 
and  the  pen  of  Luther  were  both  rusting  in  the  grave. 
Germany  was,  at  last,  prostrate  before  her  Spanish  lord.  A 
proud  and  haughty  conqueror,*  he  brought  Spanish  infantry 

*  History,  however,  records  a  brighter  trait  in  Charles's  character.  Visiting 
Luther's  grave,  one  of  his  attendants  urged  that  the  body  of  the  reformer  should  be 
dug  up  and  burned.  The  emperor  nobly  replied,  "No  !  I  make  war  on  the  livmg, 
jjot  on  th?  dead," 


1548.]  THE     AOE     OF     CHARLES     V.  443 

to  overawe  the  disaffected;  forced  upon  the  unwilling  people 
the  Interim — a  compromise  between  the  two  religious,  which 
was  hateful  to  both  Catholics  and  Protestants  ;  and  sought 
to  have  the  succession  ^taken  from  his  brother  Ferdinand, 
and  given  to  his  son — the  cold  and  gloomy  Philip. 

Maurice  Revolts. — At  this  juncture,  the  man  who  won 
Charles  the  victory,  undid  his  work.  Maurice,  impatient  of 
the  name  ^^ traitor"  and  indignant  because  his  father-in-law 
was  kept  in  prison,  organized  a  revolt,  and  made  an  alliance 
with  Henry  11.  of  France. 

Protestant  Triumph. — Suddenly,  the  confederates  took 
the  field.  Henry  seized  Toul,  Verdun,  and  the  strong  fortress 
of  Metz,  without  striking  a  blow.  To  escape  from  Maurice, 
the  emperor  at  Innspruck  fled  through  the  stormy  night 
along  the  mountain-paths  of  the  Tyrol.*  The  Council  of 
Trent  broke  up  in  dread.  Charles  was  forced  to  bend,  and, 
by  the  Treaty  of  Passau  (1552),  to  grant  toleration  to  the 
Protestants. 

Charles's  Abdication  (1556). — Imperial  disasters  now 
followed  fast.  Charles  tried  to  recover  Metz,  but  was 
defeated  by  the  Duke  of  Guise — ^a  French  leader  then  new 
to  fame.  The  Turkish  fleet  ravaged  the  coast  of  Italy.  The 
pope,  offended  by  the  toleration  granted  the  Protestants, 
made  an  alliance  with  Henry  of  France.  Charles,  sad,  dis- 
appointed,  and  baffled,   laid  down  the  crown. f      His   son 


*  Manrice,  if  he  had  deemed  it  politic,  could  have  prevented  the  escape,  but,  as 
the  emperor  himself  once  said,  "  Some  birds  are  too  big  for  any  cage  "—a  truth  that 
Charles  well  learned  after  the  battle  of  Pavia. 

+  He  thus  followed  the  famous  example  of  Diocletian  (p.  263).  After  his  retire- 
ment Charles  went  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Juct  in  Spain.  Though  only  fifty-six,  hav- 
ing been  bom  in  the  same  year  with  his  century,  he  was  prematurely  old— the  victim 
of  gluttony.  Now,  shut  in  ijy  groves  of  oak  and  chestnut,  and  under  the  shadow  of  the 
lofty  mountains,  the  late  emperor  joined  the  monks  in  their  religious  exercises,  or 
amused  himself  by  various  mechanical  contrivances— the  making  of  v/atches  and 
curious  little  puppets.  Unable,  however,  to  absorb  himself  in  his  new  life,  he  eagerly 
watched  the  tidinsrs  of  the  busy  world  he  had  left  behind.   One  day  the  morbid  fancy 


444  THIl     SIXTEENTH     CEKTUKY.  [1556- 

Philip  II.,  husband  of  Mary,  queen  of  England,  received 
Spain,  the  Netherlands,  and  the  Two  Sicilies;  while  Fer- 
dinand of  Austria  was  chosen  emperor. 

End  of  the  War. — Philip  for  a  time  continued  the  strug- 
gle with  France,  and  won  the  battle  of  SL  Quentin  (1557) ;  * 
but  Guise's  capture  of  Calais  from  the  English,  who  had  held 
it  over  two  centuries,  consoled  the  French.  The  Treaty  of 
Gdteau-Camhresis  (1559)  closed  the  long  contest,  and  empha- 
sized the  division  of  Europe  into  Catholic  and  Protestant 
nations. 

The  Gondition  of  Germany  during  the  remainder  of  the  16th 
century  was  that  of  mutual  fear  and  suspicion.  The  Calvinists  were 
excluded  from  the  Treaty  of  Passau,  and  the  feeling  between  them  and 
the  Lutherans  was  as  bitter  as  between  both  and  the  Catholics.  The 
different  parties  watched  one  another  with  growing  dislike  and  doubt,, 
every  rustling  leaf  awakening  fresh  suspicion.  Minor  divisions  arose 
among  the  Protestants.  Each  petty  court  had  its  own  school  of  theo- 
logians, and  the  inspiration  of  the  early  reformers  degenerated  into 
wrangles  about  petty  doctrines  and  dogmas.  No  true  national  life 
could  exist  in  such  an  atmosphere.  Ferdincmd  I.  and  his  successor, 
Maximilian  IL,  managed  to  hold  the  unsteady  balance  between  the 
conflicting  parties;  but  under  Rudolph  IL,  Catholic  and  Protestant 
leagues  were  formed.  Matthias  got  his  cousin  Ferdinand  chosen  king 
of  Hungary  and  Bohemia ;  on  the  death  of  Matthias,  Ferdinand  II. 
was  elected  emperor  (1619).  He  was  a  bitter  foe  of  the  Reformation, 
and  the  closing  of  two  Protestant  churches  (1618)  in  his  territory 
l^roved  the  signal  for  the  Thirty  Years  War  (p.  480). 


seized  him  to  have  his  funeral  services  performed.  He  took  part  in  the  solemn 
pageant,  standing  by  the  side  of  his  empty  coflln,  holding  a  torch,  and  chanting  a 
dirge.    The  dread  reality  followed  within  three  weeks  (1558). 

*  When  Charles,  in  his  retirement,  heard  of  this  victory,  he  exclaimed:  "Is  not 
my  son  now  in  Paris?  "  Philip,  however,  derived  no  advantage  from  it,  except  the 
glory  of  the' day  and  the  plan  of  the  huge  palace  of  the  Escurial,  which  is  built  in  paral- 
lel rows  like  the  bars  of  a  gridiron,  in  memory  of  St.  Lawrence,  on  whose  day  the  bat- 
tle was  fought  and  whose  martyrdom  consisted  in  being  broiled  over  a  slow  fire. 


RISE     OF     THE     DUTCH     REPUBLIC 


445 


III.    RISE  OF  THE   DUTCH    REPUBLIC. 

The  Netherlands,  now  Holland  and  Belgium,  by  the 
marriage  of  Mary  of  Burgundy  to  Maximilian,  fell  to  the 
House  of  Hapsburg.  When  her  grandson  resigned  these 
provinces  to  Philip,  they  formed  the  richest  possession  of 
the  Spanish  crown.  The  looms  of  Flanders  were  world- 
renowned.  The  manufactories  of  Ghent  had  one  hundred 
thousand  artisans.  In  the  Scheldt  at  Antwerp  twenty-fiye 
hundred  ships  were  often  to  be  seen  waiting  their  turn  to 
come  to  the  wharfs,  while  five  thousand  merchants  daily 
thronged  the  city  exchange. 


SACKING  A  CATHEDRAL. 


The  Reformation  made  great  progress  among  this  liberty- 
loving  people.  Philip,  declaring  that  he  would  rather  be 
no  king  than  to  reign  over  heretics,  soon  sought  to  crush  the 


446  THE     SIXTEENTH     CENTURY.  [1567. 

new  doctrines  by  the  terrors  of  the  Inquisition.*  Tumults 
arose.  Many  beautiful  cathedrals  with  their  treasures  of  art 
were  sacked  by  the  mob. 

The  Duke  of  Alva  was  now  sent  thither  with  an  army 
of  Spanish  veterans  (1567).  This  remorseless  tyrant,  and 
his  dreaded  Council  of  Bloody  within  six  years  put  to  death 
eighteen  thousand  persons,  and  passed  sentence  of  death 
upon  the  entire  population !  Thousands  of  woi-kmen,  fleeing 
in  terror,  carried  to  England  the  manufacturing  skill  of 
Bruges  and  Ghent. 

Meanwhile,  William  of  Nassau,  Prince  of  Orange,  known 
in  history  as  the  Silent,  took  the  field  in  defence  of  his  per- 
secuted countrymen.     Then  began  their 

Forty-Years  War  (1568-1609)  for  freedom.  This  long 
struggle  is  memorable  in  history  on  account  of  the  heroic 
defence  the  cities  made  against  the  Spanish  armies,  f     The 


*  A  deputation  of  nobles  to  protest  against  this  measure  was  styled  by  a  scornful 
courtier,  a  "Pack  of  Beggars."  This  being  reported  to  the  nobles  at  a  banquet, 
one  of  them  hung  about  his  neck  a  beggar's  wallet,  and  taking  up  a  wooden  bowl  of 
wine— all  merrily  drank  to  the  toast,  "  Long  live  the  beggars."  The  name  became 
thenceforth  their  proud  title. 

t  Harlem  was  besieged  by  Don  Frederick,  Alva's  son,  in  1572.  Having  breached 
the  defences,  he  ordered  an  assault.  Forthwith  the  church  bells  rang  the  alarm. 
Men  and  women  flocked  to  the  wall?.  Thence  they  showered  upon  the  besieg- 
ers stones  and  boiling  oil,  and  dexterously  threw  down  over  their  necks  hoops 
dripping  with  burning  pitch.  Spanish  courage  and  ferocity  shrunk  back  appalled  at 
such  a  determined  resistance  by  an  entire  population.  Don  Frederick  then  betook 
to  mining ;  the  citizens  countermined.  Spaniard  and  Netherlander  met  in  deadly 
conflict  within  passages  dimly  lighted  by  lanterns,  and  so  narrow  that  the  dagger 
only  could  be  used.  At  times,  showers  of  mingled  stones,  earth,  and  human  bodies, 
shot  high  into  the  air,  as  if  from  some  concealed  volcano.  The  Prince  made  several 
futile  attempts  to  relieve  the  city.  In  one  of  these,  John  Haring  sprang  upon  a  narrow 
dike,  and  alone  held  in  check  one  thousand  of  the  enemy  until  his  friends  made  good 
their  escape,  when,  Horatius-like,  he  leaped  into  the  sea,  and  swam  off  unharmed. 
Hope  of  rescue  finally  failed  the  besieged,  and  then  famine  added  to  their  horrors. 
Dogs,  cats',  and  mice  were  devoured ;  shoe-leather  was  soaked  and  eaten ;  while 
gaunt  spectres  wandered  to  and  fro.  eagerly  seizing  the  scattered  spires  of  grass  and 
weeds,  to  allay  the  torment  of  hunger.  In  the  last  extremity,  the  soldiers  proposed 
to  form  a  hollow  square,  put  the  women  and  children  in  the  centre,  fire  the  city,  and 
then  cut  their  way  out.  The  seven-months  siege  had  taught  the  Spaniards  the  issue 
of  such  a  struggle  of  despair,  and  they  otfered  terms  of  surrender.  But  wheri^Alva's 
legions  were  inside  the  walls,  he  forgot  all  save  revenge,  butchered  garrison  and  citi- 


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448  THE     SIXTEENTH     CEKTUKY.  [1576. 

Silent  One,  with  his  devotion  to  duty,  constancy  in  adversity, 
and  marvelous  statesmanship,  is  the  central  figure  of  the 
contest.  In  1576  (two  centuries  before  our  '76)  he  united 
the  provinces  in  a  league  called  the  Pacification  of  Ghent 
But  the  northern  and  the  southern  provinces  were  unlike 
in  race  and  religion.  The  former  were  Teutonic,  and 
mostly  Protestant ;  the  latter,  Celtic  and  largely  Catholic. 
Jealousies  arose.  The  league  fell  in  pieces.  William  then 
formed  the  seven  northern  provinces  into  the  Union  of 
Utrecht — the  foundation  of  the  Dutch  Republic.  The  Prince 
was  chosen  first  stadtholder. 

Philip,  the  gloomy  tyrant  of  the  Escurial,  having  set  a 
price  upon  William's  head,  this  patriot  leader  was  assassin- 
ated (1584).  When  the  sad  news  flew  through  Holland, 
even  the  little  children  wept  in  the  streets. 

Maurice  of  Nassau,  the  Prince's  second  son,  was  chosen 
in  his  father's  place.  Though  only  in  his  seventeenth  year, 
he  proved  to  be  a  rare  general;  while,  at  his  side,  stood  the 

zens  alike,  and,  when  the  executioners  were  weary,  tied  three  hundred  wretches 
together,  two  by  two,  back  to  back,  and  hurled  them  into  the  lake. 

Leyden  was  besieged  by  Valdez  in  1574.  A  chain  of  sixty-two  forts  cut  off  all 
communication,  except  by  means  of  carrier  pigeons,  which,  flying  high  in  air, 
bore  tidings  between  the  Priuce  and  the  city.  (The  stuflTcd  skins  of  these  faithful 
messengers  are  still  preserved  in  the  town  hall.')  Soon  famine  came,  more  bitter 
even,  if  possible,  than  that  at  Harlem.  The  starving  crowd  was  at  last  driven  to  the 
burgomaster,  demanding  food  or  a  surrender.  "  I  have  sworn  not  to  yield,"  was  the 
heroic  reply ;  "but  take  my  sword,  plunge  it  into  my  breast,  and  divide  my  flesh 
among  you."  These  words  raised  their  courage  anew,  and,  clambering  upon  the  walls, . 
they  took  their  places  again,  calling  out  to  the  enemy  in  defiance,  "  Before  we  give  up, 
we  will  eat  our  left  arms  to  give  strength  to  our  right."  The  Prince  had  no  army  to 
send  to  their  relief:  but  the  Sea  Beggars  were  outside  pacing  the  decks  of  their  ships, 
and  chafing  at  the  delay.  For,  though  the  patriots,  crying  out  that  "a  drowned 
land  is  better  than  a  lost  land,"  had  cut  the  dikes  to  let  in  the  ocean  upon  their  fertile 
fields,  th^  water  was  too  shallow  to  float  the  fleet.  One  night  the  tempest  came. 
The  waters  of  the  North  Sea  were  piled  high  on  the  Holland  coast.  The  waves, 
driven  by  a  west  wind,  swept  irresistibly  over  the  land.  The  ships,  loaded  with 
food,  were  borne  to  the  very  walls  of  the  city.  The  Spaniards,  dismayed  by  the 
incoming  ocean,  fled  in  terror.  The  happy  people  flocked  with  their  deliverers  to 
the  cathedral,  to  pom  out  their  thanksgiving  to  God.  Prayer  was  offered,  and  then 
a  hymn  begun  ;  but  the  tide  of  emotion  rose  too  high,  and,  checking  the  song,  tho 
vast  audience  wept  together  tears  of  joy  and  gratitude.  Read  Motley's  account  in 
the  "  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic." 


1584.]  RISE     OFTHE     DUTCH     REPUBLIC.  449 

skillful  diplomat  and  devoted  patriot,  John  of  Barneveld. 
In  time,  both  France  and  England  became  allies  of  the  states, 
and  took  part  in  the  struggle,  (pp.  453,  464). 

The  Dutch  sailors  early  won  great  renown.  Their  light, 
active  ships  beat  the  clumsy  Spanish  galleons,  alike  in  trade 
and  war.  A  Dutch  Indiaman  would  sail  to  the  Antipodes 
and  back  while  a  Portuguese  or  a  Spaniard  was  making  the 
outward  voyage.  The  East  India  Company,  founded,  in 
1 602,  conquered  islands  and  kingdoms  in  Asia,  and  carried 
on  a  lucrative  trade  with  China  and  Japan.  Spain  and 
Portugal,  pioneers  in  the  East,  now  bought  spices,  silks,  and 
gems,  of  Holland  merchants. 

Result  of  the  War. — The  King  of  Spain,  then  Philip  III.,- 
was  finally  forced  to  grant  a  truce,  in  which  he  treated  with 
the  seven  United  Provinces  as  if  free ;  tliough  he  refused 
formally  to  acknowledge  their  independence  until  the  Treaty 
of  Westphalia  (p.  485).  The  southern,  or  Belgian  provinces, 
remained  in  the  possession  of  Spain. 

Free  Holland  now  took  her  place  among  the  nations. 
Her  fields  bloomed  like  a  garden  ;  her  shops  rang  with  the 
notes  of  industry ;  and  her  harbors  bristled  with  masts.  In 
the  seventeenth  century  she  was  a  power  in  the  European 
States-System,  and  her  alliance  was  eagerly  courted ;  while 
Spain  fell  so  rapidly  that  foreign  princes  arranged  for  a 
division  of  her  territory  without  consulting  her  sovereign.  * 


*  By  the  expulsion  of  the  remaining  Moors,  Philip  m.  drove  out  of  Spain  six 
hundred  thousand  of  her  most  industrious  and  thrifty  citizens,  transferred  to  other 
countries  five-sixths  of  her  commerce  and  manufactures,  and  reduced  the  revenue 
over  one-half.  The  nation  never  recovered  from  this  impolitic  and  unjust  act.  It 
should  be  remembered,  however,  that  persecution  was  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Even 
the  mild  Isabella  consented  to  expel  the  Jews,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand,  and  though  this  edict  caused  untold  misery,  yet  at  the  time  it  was 
lauded  as  a  signal  instance  of  piety.  Toleration  was  not  understood,  even  by  the 
reformers  of  Germany  or  England,  and  all  parties  believed  that  it  was  right  to 
punish  or,  if  necessary,  to  bum  a  man's  body,  in  order  to  save  his  soul. 


450 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CEN^TtJKY. 


IV.    CIVIL-RELIGIOUS    WARS    OF    FRANCE. 

The  Reformation  took  deep  root  in  France,  especially 
among  the  nobility.  Though  Francis  I.  and  Henry  II.  aided 
the  German  reformers  in  order  to  weaken  Charles  V.,  to 
schism  at  home  they  showed  no  mercy.  By  the  treaties  of 
Orespy  and  Oateau-Cambresis  they  were  pledged  to  stamp 
out  the  new  religion.     Francis  relentlessly  persecuted  the 

Vaudois,  a  simple  moun- 
tain folk  of  the  Pied- 
mont; Henry  celebrated 
the  coronation  of  his  wife 
Catharine  de'  Medici, 
with  a  bonfire  of  heretics, 
and  sought  to  establish 
the  Inquisition  in  France, 
as  had  been  done  in  the 
Netherlands.  In  spite 
of  persecution,  however, 
-\^^^^^^^^^^^^^»3Mw^    Calvinist     prayers     .and 

hymns  were  heard  even 
in  the  royal  palace.  The 
Huguenots — as  the  Protestants  were  called — began  to  claim 
the  same  rights  that  their  German  brethren  had  secured  at 
Passau.  Denied  these,  they  organized  a  revolt.  During  the 
reigns  of  Henry  II. 's  three  sons,  Francis  II.,  Charles  IX., 
and  Henry  III.,  who  successively  came  to  the  throne,  France 
was  convulsed  by  the  horrors  of  civil  war. 

The  Leaders.— The  Catholic  leaders  were  Catharine,  the 
Constable  Montmorenci,  and  the  two  Guises — Francis  the 
Duke,  and  his  brother,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine.  They  were 
supported  by  the  Church  and  Spain. 


CATHARINE   DE     MEDICI. 


1559.] 


CIVIL-RELIGIOUS     WARS     OF     FRANCE. 


451 


ADMIRAL    COLIGNY. 


At  the  head  of  the 
Huguenots  stood  the 
King  of  Navarre,  and 
the  Prince  of  Conde — 
both  Bourbons  claim- 
ing descent  from  St. 
Louis  —  and  Admiral 
Coligny,  nephew  of 
Montmorenci.  They 
were  befriended  by  the 
reformers  of  Germany, 
England,  and  the  Neth- 
erlands. 

The  Situation. — The  remaining  kings  of  the  Valois  line 
were  young,  weak,  and  unfit  to  contend  with  the  profound 
questions  and  violent  men  of  the  time.  The  Bourbons  hated 
the  Guises,  and  each  plotted  the  other's  ruin.  Catharine, 
a  wily,  heartless  Italian,  moving  between  the  factions  like  a 
spirit  of  evil,  schemed  for  power.  Her  maxim  was,  "  Divide 
and  govern."  She  cared  little  for  religion,  but  opposed 
the  Huguenots  because  their  aristocratic  leaders  sought  to 
strengthen  the  nobles  at  the  expense  of  the  king.  Thus 
political  mingled  with  religious  motives,  and  the  struggle 
was  quite  as  much  for  the  triumph  of  rival  chiefs  as  for 
that  of  any  form  of  faith. 

Francis  II.  (1559-'60),  a  sickly  boy  of  sixteen,  fascinated 
by  the  charms  of  his  girl-wife,  the  beautiful  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  was  ruled,  through  her,  by  her  uncles,  the  Guises. 
The  Bourbons  planned  to  remove  the  king  from  their  influ- 
ence. The  Guises  detected  the  plot,  and  took  a  ferocious 
revenge.  Cond6  himself  escaped  only  by  the  king's  sudden 
death.  Mary  returned  to  Scotland  to  work  out  her  sad 
destiny,  (p.  463). 


452 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CENTURY. 


[1660. 


Charles  IX.  (1560-'74),  a  child-king  of  ten,  was  now 
pushed  to  the  front.  Catharine,  as  regent,*  tried  to  hold  the 
balance  between  the  two  parties.  But  the  Catholics,  be- 
coming exasperated,  resented  every  concession  to  the  Hugue- 
nots ;  while  the  Huguenots,  growing  exultant,  often  inter- 
rupted the  worship  and  broke  the  images  in  the  Catholic 
churches.  One  Sunday 
(1562)  the  Duke  of  Guise 
was  riding  through  P as- 
sy as  a  Huguenot  con- 
gregation were  gathering 
for  worship.  His  attend- 
ants, sword  in  hand,  fell 
upon  the  Protestants. 
This  massacre  was  the 
opening  scene  in 

A  Series  of  Eight  Civil 
Wars,  which,  interrupted 
by  seven  short  and  un- 
steady treaties  of  peace, 
lasted  in  all  over  thirty 
years.  Plots,  murders, 
treacheries,  thickened  fast.  Griiise  was  assassinated  ;  Conde 
was  shot  in  cold  blood.  Navarre  and  Montmoreuci,  more 
fortunate,  fell  in  battle.  Guise  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
Henry,  w^hile  Navarre's  place  was  taken  by  his  gallant  son, 
afterward  Henry  IV. 

The  treaty  of  St.  Germain,  the  third  lull  of  hostilities  in 
this  bloody  series,  gave  promise  of  permanence.     Charles 


HEiNKY,    DUKE   OF   GUISE. 


*  It  is  noticeable  that  about  this  time  a  large  part  of  Europe  was  governed  by 
women.  England,  by  Elizabeth  ;  Spain,  by  Juana,  princess  regent ;  the  Netherlands, 
by  Margaret  of  Parma,  acting  as  regent  for  Philip  ;  Navarre,  by  Queen  Jane ;  Scot- 
land, by  Mary ;  and  Portugal,  by  the  regent-mother,  Catharine  of  Austria,  sister  of 
Charles  V. 


1572.]      CIVIL-RELIGIOUS     WARS     OF     FRANCE.        453 

offered  his  sister  Margaret  in  marriage  to  Henry  of  Navarre. 
The  principal  Huguenots  flocked  to  Paris,  to  witness  the 
wedding  festivities.  Coligny  won  the  confidence  of  the 
king,  and  an  army  was  sent  to  aid  the  reformers  in  the 
Netherlands.  Catharine,  seeing  her  power  waning,  resolved 
to  assassinate  Coligny.  The  attempt  failed  ;  the  Huguenots 
swore  revenge.  In  alarm,  Catharine  with  her  friends  decided 
to  crush  the  Huguenot  party  at  one  horrible  blow.  With 
difficulty,  Charles  was  persuaded  to  consent  to 

The  Massacre  of  St:  Bartholomeiu  (August  24,  1572). 
Before  daybreak  the  impatient  Catharine  gave  the  signal. 
Instantly  lights  gleamed  from  the  windows.  Bands  of 
murderers  thronged  the  streets.  Guise  himself  hurried  to 
Coligny's  house;  his  attendants  rushed  in,  found  the  old 
man  at  prayer,  stabbed  him  to  death,  and  threw  his  body 
from  the  window  that  Guise  might  feast  his  eyes  upon  his 
fallen  enemy.  Everywhere  echoed  the  cry,  "Kill!  kill!" 
The  slaughter  went  on  for  days.  In  Paris  alone  ten  thousand 
persons  perished ;  while  in  the  provinces  each  city  had  its 
own  St.  Bartholomew. 

Result. — The  Huguenots,  dazed  for  a  moment,  flew  to 
arms  with  the  desperation  of  despair.  Many  moderate 
Catholics  joined  them.  Charles,  unable  to  banish  from  his 
eyes  the  horrible  scenes  of  that  fatal  night,  died  at  last  a 
victim  of  remorse. 

Henry  III.  (1574-'89)  next  ascended  the  throne.  Frivo- 
lous and  vicious,  he  met  with  contempt  on  every  side.  The 
violent  Catholics  formed  a  "League  to  extirpate  Heresy." 
Its  leader  was  the  Duke  of  Guise,  who  now  threatened  to 
become  another  Pepin  to  a  second  Childeric.  The  king  had 
this  dangerous  rival  assassinated  in  the  royal  cabinet.  Paris 
rose  in  a  frenzy  at  the  death  of  its  idol.  Henry  fled  for 
protection  to  the  Huguenot  camp.     A  fanatic^,  instigated  by 


454 


THE     SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 


[1589. 


Guise's  sister,  entered  his  tent  and  stabbed  the  monarch  to 
the  heart.     Thus  ended  the  Valois  line.* 

Henry  of  Navarre  (1589-1610)  now  became  king  as 
Henry  IV.,  the  first  of  the  Bourbon  House  (p.  355).  To 
crush  the  League,  however,  took  five  years  more  of  war. 
The  crisis  came  at  Ivry,  where  the  Huguenots  followed 
Henry's  white  plume  to  a  signal  victory.  Finally,  in  order 
to  end  the  struggle,  he  abjured  the  Protestant  religion. 
The  next  year  he  was  crowned  at  Paris  (1594). 

Henry^s  Administration  brought  to  France  a  sweet  calm 
after  the  turmoil  of  war.     By  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1598), 

he  granted  toleration  to  the 
Huguenots.  With  his  fa- 
mous minister,  Sully,  he  re- 
stored the  finances,  erected 
public  edifices,  built  ships,  en- 
couraged silk  manufacture, 
and  endowed  schools  and 
libraries.  The  common  peo- 
ple found  in  him  a  friend, 
and  he  often  declared  that 
he  should  not  be  content 
until  "the  poorest  peasant 
in  his  realm  had  a  fowl  for 

SULLY. 

his  pot  every  Sunday."  This 
prosperous  reign  was  cut  short  by  the  dagger  of  the  assassin 
Ravaillac  (1610). 

*  It  is  a  house  distinguished  for  misfortunes.  Every  monarch  save  one  (Charles  V.) 
left  a  record  of  loss  or  shame.  Philip  VI.  was  defeated  at  Sluys  and  Cr6cy  and  lost 
Calais.  John,  beaten  at  Poitiers,  died  a  prisoner  in  England.  Charles  VI.,  conquered 
at  Azincourt,  was  forced  to  acknowledge  the  English  monarch  heir  of  his  kingdom. 
Charles  VII.  owed  his  crown  to  a  peasant  girl,  and  finally  starved  himself  for  fear  of 
poisoning  by  his  son.  Louis  XI.,'  taken  prisoner  by  Burgundy,  was  for  days  in  danger 
of  execution  ;  he  died  hated  by  all.  Charles  VTII.  and  Louis  XII.  met  reverses  in 
Italy.  Francis  I.  was  taken  prisoner  at  Pavia.  Henry  II.  suffered  the  sting  of  the 
defeat  at  St.  Quentin,  and  was  slain  in  a  tilting  match.  Francis  IT.  fortunately  died 
young.  Charles  IX.  perished  with  the  memory  of  gt.  Bartholomew  resting  upojj 
Jum  ;  and  Henry  III.  was  murdered. 


ENGLAI^D     UNDER     THE     TUDORS.  455 


V.  ENGLAND  UNDER  THE  TUDORS  (1485-1603). 

The  Tudor  Rule  covered,  in  general,  the  sixteenth 
century.  Its  monarchs  were  despots.  Then  began  the  era 
of  absolutism,  such  as  Louis  XI.  had  introduced  into  France, 
but  which  was  curbed  in  England  by  the  Charter,  Parliament, 
and  the  free  spirit  of  the  people.  The  characteristic  features 
of  the  period  were  the  rise  of  Protestantism,  of  commerce, 
and  of  lite]-ature. 

TABLE   OF   THE    TUDOR   LINE. 

Henry  VII.  (1485-1509)  m.  Elizabeth  op  York. 

I 


Margaret.  Henry  Vni.  a509-'47). 

!  I 

James  V.  of  Scotland.      Edward  VI.  (1547).      Mary  (1553).      Elizabeth  (1558). 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 

James  VI.  of  Scotland  and  I.  of  England.    Stuart  Line. 

1.  Henry  VII.  (1485-1509),  hailed  king  on  the  field  of 
Bosworth,  by  his  marriage  with  Elizabeth  of  York  blended 
the  roses.  The  ground-swell  of  the  civil  war,  however,  still 
agitated  the  country.  Two  impostors  claimed  the  throne. 
Both  were  put  down  after  much  bloodshed.  Avarice  was 
Henry's  ruling  trait.  Promising  to  invade  France,  he 
secured  supplies  from  Parliament,  extorted  from  wealthy 
persons  gifts — curiously  termed  '* benevolences,^'*  crossed 
the  channel,  made  peace  (secretly  negotiated  from  the  first) 
with  Charles  VIII.  for  £149,000,  and  returned  home  enriched 
at  the  expense  of  friend  and  foe.  He  punished  the  nobles 
with  fines  on  every  pretext,  and  his  lawyers  revived  musty 
edicts  and  forgotten  tenures  in  order  to  fill  the  royal  coffers 
under  the  guise  of  law. 

*  His  favorite  minister,  Morton,  devised  a  dilemma  known  as  "Morton's  fork," 
since  a  rich  man  was  sure  to  be  cauijht  on  one  tine  or  the  other.  A  frugal  person 
was  asked  for  money  because  he  must  have  saved  much,  and  an  extravagant  one,  be- 
cause he  had  much  to  spend. 


456  THE     SIXTEEI^TH     CENTUKY.  [1502. 

Henry's  tyranny,  however,  reached  only  the  great.  He 
gave  the  people  rest.  He  favored  the  middle  classes,  and, 
by  permitting  the  poorer  nobles  to  sell  their  lands  regard- 
less of  the  ^'^ entail,"  enabled  prosperous  merchants  to  buy 
estates.  He  also  encouraged  commerce,  and  under  his 
patronage  the  Cabots  explored  the  coast  of  America. 

In  1502  Henry's  daughter  Margaret  was  married  to  James 
IV.  of  Scotland.  This  wedding  of  the  rose  and  the  thistle 
paved  the .  way  to  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  under 
the  Stuarts,  a  century  later. 

2.  Henry  VIII.  (1509-'47)  at  eighteen  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  and  his  father's  wealth.  For  the  first  time  since 
Kichard  II.,  the  king  had  a  clear  title  to  the  crown.  Gay, 
generous,  handsome,  witty,  intelligent,  fond  of  sport,  and 
skillful  in  arms.  Bluff  King  Hal,  as  he  was  affectionately 
called,  was  long  the  most  popular  in  English  history. 

Foreign  Relations. — While  Henry  was  winning  the  Battle 
of  the  Spurs  (p.  432),  Scotland  as  usual  sided  with  France. 
James  IV.,  though  Henry's  brother-in-law,  invaded  England. 
But,  on  Flodden  Field  (1513),  he  was  slain  with  the  flower  of 
the  Scots.  Soon  England  came,  as  we  have  seen,  to  hold 
the  balance  of  power  between  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I. 
Lest  either  should  grow  too  strong,  Henry  always  took  the 
part  of  the  one  who  happened  at  the  time  to  be  the  weaker. 
Such  wars  brought  no  good  to  any  one. 

Thomas  Wolsey,  who,  from  a  priest  and  the  son  of  a 
butcher,  rose  to  be  Archbishop  of  York,  Lord  Chancellor  of 
England,  Cardinal,  and  Papal  Legate,  was  Henry's  minister. 
He  lived  with  almost  royal  splendor.  His  household  com- 
prised 500  nobles,  and  he  was  attended  everywhere  by  a  train 
of  the  first  barons  of  the  land.  The  direction  of  foreign 
and  domestic  affairs  rested  with  him.  As  Chancellor,  he 
administered  justice ;  as  legate,  he  controlled  the  Church* 


1533.] 


ENGLAND     UNDER     THE     TUDORS. 


457 


Catharine's  Divorce. — ^For  nearly  twenty  years,  Henry, 
lived  happily  with  his  wife,  Catharine  of  Aragon,  aunt  of 
Charles  V.  But  of  their  children,  Mary,  a  sickly  girl,  alone 
survived.  Should  Henry  leave  no  son,  the  succession  to  the 
throne  would  be 
imperilled,  as  no 
woman  had  yet 
reigned  in  Eng- 
land. The  re- 
membrance of  the 
recent  civil  war 
emphasized  this 
dread.  Henry  be- 
gan to  have  a 
superstitious  fear 
lest  the  death  of 
his  children  were 
a  judgment  upon 
him  for  marrying 
his  brother's  wid- 
ow. His  scruples 
were  quickened, 
perhaps  even  sug- 
gested,     by      the 

charms  of  Anne  Boleyn,  a  beautiful  maid  of  honor.  Henry 
accordingly  applied  to  Pope  Clement  VII.  for  a  divorce. 
The  pope,  not  willing  to  offend  Henry,  and  not  daring  to 
offend  Charles,  hesitated.  So  the  affair  dragged  on  for  years. 
The  universities  and  learned  men  at  home  and  abroad 
were  consulted.  At  last,  Henry  privately  married  Anne. 
Thomas  Cranmer,*  who  had  been  appointed  Archbishop  of 

*  It  is  curious  that  the  four  most  remarkable  men  of  Henry's  administration— 
Wolsey,  Cranmer,  Cromwell,  and  Move,  all  had  the  same  given  name,  Thomas,  and 
all  were  executed,  except  Wolsey,  who  escaped  the  scaffold  only  by  death. 


PORTRAITS   OF   HENRY   VIII.    AND   CARDINAL   WOLSEY. 


458  THE     SIXTEENTH     CENTUEY.  [1533. 

.Canterbury  on  account  of  his  zeal  in  the  king's  cause,  then 
pronounced  Catharine's  marriage  illegal  (1533).  The  for- 
saken wife  died  three  years  later.  But  more  than  the  fate  of 
queen  or  maid  of  honor  was  concerned  in  this  royal  whim. 

Wolseifs  Fall  (1530). — Wolsey,  as  legate,  had  hesitated  to 
declare  a  divorce  without  the  papal  sanction.  Henry,  brook- 
ing no  opposition,  determined  on  his  minister's  disgrace. 
Stripped  of  place  and  power,  the  old  man  was  banished 
from  the  court.  Soon  after,  he  was  arrested  for  treason  ; 
while  on  his  way  to  prison  he  died,  broken-hearted  at  his 
fall.* 

Breach  with  Rome. — Henry  had  no  sympathy  with  the 
Eeformation.  Indeed,  he  had  written  a  book  against 
Luther's' doctrines,  for  which  he  received,  as  a  reward  from 
the  grateful  pope,  the  title  of  the  Defender  of  the  Faith. 
But  Cromwell,  who,  after  Wolsey's  fall,  became  Henry's  chief 
minister,  advised  the  king,  instead  of  troubling  himself  about 
the  papal  decision,  to  deny  the  pope's  supremacy.  Link  by 
link,  the  chain  that  had  so  long  bound  England  to  Kome 
was  broken.  Parliament  declared  Anne's  marriage  legal; 
forbade  appeals  or  payments  to  the  pope;  and  acknowledged 
the  king  as  supreme  head  of  the  English  Church,  f  All  who 
refused  to  take  the  Oath  of  Supremacy  were  proclaimed 
guilty  of  high  treason  .J     The  monasteries  were  suppressed, 

*  His  last  words,  as  given  almost  literally  by  Shakspere,  have  become  famous : 
"  O,  Cromwell,  Cromwell, 
Had  I  but  served  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 
I  served  my  king.  He  would  not  in  my  age 

Have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies."— Henbt  VIII.,  Act  III.,  Seem  2. 
t  This,  position  gave  Henry  an  almost  sacred  character.    Parliament  directed  that, 
within  certain  limits,  his  proclamations  should  have  the  force  of  law  ;  and,  at  the 
simple  mention  of  his  name,  that  body  rose  and  bowed  to  his  vacant  throne. 

X  The  heads  of  the  noblest  in  England  now  rolled  upon  the  scaffold.  Sir  Thomas 
More,  Lord  Chancellor  for  a  time  after  Wolsey's  fall,  was  sentenced  to  death.  As 
he  ascended  the  stairs  to  his  execution,  he  remarked  to  his  attendant,  with  a  touch 
of  his  old  humor,  "  See  me  safe  up ;  as  for  my  coming  down,  T  can  shift  for  myself." 
When  he  laid  his  head  upon  the  block,  he  begged  a  moment's  delay  in  order  to  move 
aside  his  beard,  saying,  "  Pity  that  should  be  cut  that  has  not  committed  treason." 


1539.] 


ENGLAND      UNDER     THE     TUDORS. 


459 


and  their  vast  estates  confiscated.  A  part  of  their  revenues 
was  spent  in  founding  schools,  but  the  larger  share  was 
lavished  upon  the  king's  favorites. 


THE  CHAINED   BIBLE, 
(Scene  in  a  Church  Porch,  Sixteenth  Century.) 


Church  Reform.  — A  copy  of  the  Bible,  as  translated  by 
Tyndale  and  revised  by  Coverdale,  was  ordered  to  be  chained 
to  a  pillar  or  desk  in  every  church.  Crowds  of  the  common 
people  flocked  around,  to  hear  its  truths  read  to  them  in 
their  mother-tongue.  Henry  drew  up  the  famous  Six  Arti- 
cles of  religion  for  the  Church  of  England.*  But,  with  his 
usual  fickleness,  he  afterward  published  in  succession  two 
books,  each   giving   to   the   nation   a   different   creed,  and 

*  Fox  wittily  termed  this  statute,  "  The  whip  with  six  strings." 


460  THE     SIXTEENTH     CENTURY.  [1536. 

finally  restricteci  to  merchants  and  gentlemen  the  royal  per- 
mission to  read  the  Bible.  Both  Protestants  and  Catholics 
were  persecuted  with  great  impartiality ;  the  former  for 
rejecting  Henry's  doctrines,  and  the  latter  for  denying  his 
supremacy. 

Henry's  Six  Wives. — A7ine  Boleyn  wore  her  coveted 
crown  only  three  years.  A  charge  of  unfaithfulness  brought 
her  to  the  scaffold  within  less  than  five  months  from  the 
death  of  the  discarded  Catharine  (1536).  The  very  day  after 
Anne's  execution,  Henry  married  Jane  Seymour,  a  maid  of 
honor  whose  pretty  face  had  caught  his  changeful  fancy ; 
she  died  the  following  year.  The  fourth  wife  was  Anne  of 
Cleves,  a  Protestant  princess.  Her  plain  looks  disappointed 
the  king,  who  had  married  her  by  proxy,  and  he  soon 
obtained  a  divorce  by  act  of  Parliament.  Cromwell  had 
arranged  this  match,  and  the  result  cost  him  his  head. 
Henry  next  married  Catharine  Howard,  but  her  bad  con- 
duct was  punished  by  deatii.  The  last  of  the  series  was 
Catharine  Parr,  a  widow,  who,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  man- 
aged to  keep  her  head  upon  her  shoulders  until  the  king 
died  in  1547. 

3.  Edward  VI.  (1547-53),  son  of  Jane  Seymour,  ascended 
the  throne  in  his  tenth  year.  The  Duke  of  Somerset  became 
regent. 

The  Reformation,  which  began  in  Henry's  time  by  the  sev- 
erance from  Rome,  now  proceeded  apace.  Archbishop  Cran- 
mer,  seconded  by  Bishops  Ridley  and  Latimer,  was  foremost 
in  shaping  the  changes  in  ceremony  and  doctrine  that  gave 
the  English  church  a  Protestant  form.  The  Latin  mass  was 
abolished.  The  pictures  and  statues  in  the  churches  were 
destroyed.  The  inimitable  Book  of  Common  Prayer  was 
compiled,  and  the  faith  of  the  English  Protestants  summed 
up  in  the  Forty-two  (now  Thirty-nine)  Articles  of  Religion. 


1552.]         ENaLAND     UKDER     THE     TUDORS.  461 

The  Duke  of  Northumberland,  having  brought  Somerset 
to  the  scaffold,  for  a  time  ruled  England.  He  persuaded 
Edward  to  set  aside  his  half-sisters,  Mary  and  Elizabeth, 
and  leave  the  crown  to  his  cousin,  Lady  Jane  Grey,  wife  of 
Lord  Dudley — Northumberland's  son.  Soon  after,  the  gen- 
tle and  studious  Edward  died. 

4.  Mary  (1553-8),  however,  was  the  people's  choice,  and 
she  became  the  first  queen-regnant  of  England.  Lady  Jane, 
a  charming  girl  of  sixteen,  who  found  her  greatest  delight  in 
reading  Plato  in  the  window-corner  of  a  quiet  library,  though 
proclaimed  by  her  fatlier  against  her  wish,  was  sent  to  the 
Tower ;  a  year  afterAvard,  on  the  rising  of  her  friends,  she 
and  her  husband  were  beheaded.  As  an  ardent  Catholic, 
Mary  sought  to  reconcile  England  to  the  pope.  The  laws 
favoring  the  Protestants  were  repealed,  and  nearly  three 
hundred  persons  burned  as  heretics.  Among  these  were 
Cranmer,  Latimer,  and  Ridley.  The  queen  was  married  to 
her  cousin,  afterward  Philip  IL  of  Spain.  The  Spanish  alli- 
ance was  hateful  to  the  English  ;  while  Philip  soon  tired  of 
his  haggard,  sickly  wife,  whom  he  had  chosen  merely  to 
graMfy  his  father.  She,  however,  idolized  her  husband,  and, 
to  please  him,  joined  in  the  war  against  France.  As  the 
result  she  lost  Calais.  The  humbled  queen  died  soon  after, 
declaring  that  the  name  of  this  stronghold  would  be  found 
written  on  her  heart. 

5.  Elizabeth  (1558-1603),  '*Good  Queen  Bess,"  daughter 
of  Anne  Boleyn,  next  ascended  the  throne.  Frank,  jovial, 
and  hearty,  she  won  and  kept  the  love  of  her  people.*  Self- 
poised,  courageous,  and  determined,  like  all  the  Tudors,  she 
thoroughly  understood  the  temper  of  the  nation  ;  knew  when 
to  command  and  when  to  yield ;  and  was  more  than  a  match 

*  A  Puritan,  named  Stubbe,  whose  right  hand  was  struck  off  by  her  order,  waved 
his  hat  in  his  left  while  he  cried,  "Long  live  Queen  Elizabeth  I  " 


46*;3 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CEl^TUEY. 


[1558. 


for  any  politician 
at  home  or  abroad. 
She  brought  about 
her  wise  statesmen 
like  William  Cecil 
(Lord  Burleigh) 
and  Francis  Wal- 
singham.  She  re- 
stored the  Protest- 
ant religion,  and 
gave  the  Church 
of  England  its 
present  form.  She 
declined  marriage 
to  Philip  II.,  say- 
ing that  she  was 
wedded  to  her 
realm,  and  would 
never  bring  in  a 
foreign  master. 
Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity  were  passed  by  her  first 
Parliament.  The  former  act  compelled  every  clergyman  and 
office-holder  to  take  an  oath  acknowledging  Elizabeth  as  head 
of  the  Church  of  England,  and  to  abjure  every  foreign  prince 
and  prelate;  the  latter  forbade  attendance  upon  the  ministry 
of  any  clergyman  except  of  the  established  religion,  and 
inflicted  a  fine  on  all  who  did  not  go  to  service.  Both  the 
Catholics  and  the  Puritans  *  opposed  these  measures,  but  for 
some  years  met  with  the  Church  of  England  for  worship. 

*  These  were  extreme  Protestants  who  desired  a  parer  form  of  worship  than  the 
one  adopted  for  the  Church  of  England,  i.  e.,  one  further  removed  from  that  of  Rome. 
Many  of  the  ceremonies  retained  by  Elizabeth,  such  as  the  surplice,  sign  of  the  cross 
in  baptism,  etc.,  gave  them  great  oflFence.  As  they  refused  to  accept  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity they  were  known  as  Nonconformists,  and  when  they  afterward  came  to  form 
separate  congregations,  as  Separatists  and  Independents.    (Hist.  U.  S.,  p.  53.) 


PORTRAITS  OF  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  AND  MARY  QUEEN  OF 
SCOTS. 


1556,1570.]      ENGLAIfD     UN^DER     THE    TUDORS.  463 

Afterward,  they  begau  to  withdraw  and  each  to  hold  its  own 
services  in  private  houses.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  was,  how- 
ever, rigidly  enforced.  Many  Catholics  were  executed.  The 
Puritans  were  punished  by  fine,  imprisonment,  and  exile,  but 
their  dauntless  love  of  liberty  and  firm  resistance  to  royal 
authority  gave  the  party  great  strength. 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  grandniece  of  Henry  VIII.,  was 
the  next  heir  to  the  English  throne.  At  the  French  court 
she  had  assumed  the  title  of  queen  of  England;  and  the 
Catholics,  considering  the  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn  void, 
looked  upon  her  as  their  legitimate  sovereign.  After  the 
death  of  Francis  II.  she  returned  to  Scotland.  The  Refor- 
mation, under  the  preaching  of  John  Knox,  had  there  made 
great  progress.  Mary's  Catholicism  aroused  the  hostility  of 
her  Protestant  subjects,  and  her  amusements  shocked  the 
rigid  Scotch  reformers  as  much  as  their  austerity  displeased 
the  gay  and  fascinating  queen.  She  Avas  soon  married  to  her 
cousin  Lord  Darnley.  His  weakness  and  vice  quickly  for- 
feited her  love.  One  day,  with  some  of  his  companions,  he 
dragged  her  secretary,  Rizzio,  from  her  supper-table,  and 
murdered  him  almost  at  her  feet.  Mary  never  forgave  this 
brutal  crime.  A  few  months  later,  the  lonely  house  in  which 
Darnley  was  lying  sick  was  blown  up,  and  he  was  killed. 
Mary's  marriage,  soon  after,  with  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  the 
suspected  murderer,  aroused  deep  indignation.  She  was 
forced  to  resign  the  crown  to  her  infant  son,  James  YI. 
Finally,  she  fled  to  England,  where  Elizabeth  threw  her  into 
prison.  For  over  eighteen  years  the  beautiful  captive  was 
the  center  of  innumerable  conspiracies.  The  discovery  of  a 
plot  to  assassinate  Elizabeth  and  put  her  rival  on  the  throne, 
brought  Mary  to  the  block  (1587).* 

*  A  scaffold  covered  with  black  cloth  was  built  in  the  hall  of  Fotheringay  Castle. 
In  the  gray  light  of  a  February  morning,  Mary  appeared  attired  in  black,  her  radiant 


464 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CEKTURY. 


[1688. 


Tlie  Mvincihle  Armada. — As  Elizabeth  aided  the  Protes- 
tants in  the  Netherlands,*  and  her  daring  cruisers  greatly 

annoyed  the  Spanish  commerce, 
Philip  resolved  to  conquer  Eng- 
land. For  three  years,  Spain 
rang  with  the  din  of  preparation. 
The  danger  united  England, 
and  Catholics  and  Protestants 
alike  rallied  around  their  queen. 
The  command  of  the  fleet  was 
given  to  Lord  Howard — a  Catho- 
lic nobleman — while  under  him 
served  Drake,  Hawkins,  and 
Frobisher.  One  day  in  July, 
1588,  the  Armada  was  descried 
off  Plymouth,  one  hundred  and 
forty  ships  sailing  in  a  crescent 
form,  seven  miles  in  lengtli. 
Beacons  flashed  the  alarm  from 
every  hill  along  the  coast,  and 
'  "'       the   English    ships    hurried   to 

PHILIP    II.    OF   SPAIN.  °  _ 

the  attack.  Light,  swift,  and 
manned  by  the  boldest  seamen,  they  hung  on  the  rear  of  the 
advancing  squadron  ;  poured  shot  into  the  unwieldy,  slow- 
sailing,  Spanish  galleons ;  clustered  like  angry  wasps  about 


beauty  dimmed  by  her  long  imprisonment,  but  her  courage  unshaken.  Throwing  off 
her  outer  robe,  beneath  which  was  a  crimson  dress,  she  stood  forth  against  the  black 
background  blood-red  from  head  to  foot.  With  two  blows  the  executioner  did  his 
work,  and  Mary's  stormy  life  was  ended.  Her  right  to  the  English  crown  she 
bequeathed  to  Philip,  setting  aside  her  son  as  a  Protestant. 

*  Elizabeth''s  favorite,  the  worthless  Earl  of  Leicester,  conducted  an  expedition 
to  Holland  (p.  449),  but  it  effected  nothing.  The  engagement  before  Zutphen,  how- 
ever, is  famous  for  the  death  of  Philip  Sidney--"  the  Flower  of  Chivalrie."  In  his 
dying  agony,  he  begged  for  a  drink  of  water.  Just  as  he  lifted  the  cup  to  his  lips,  he 
caught  the  wistful  glance  of  a  wounded  soldier  near  by,  and  exclaimed,  "  Give  it  to 
him.    His  need  is  greater  than  mine." 


1588.]  ENGLAKD     UKDER    THE     TUDOES.  465 

their  big  antagonists;  and,  darting  to  and  fro,  prolonged 
the  fight,  off  and  on,  for  a  week.  The  Spaniards  then  took 
refuge  in  the  roads  of  Calais.  Here  the  Duke  of  Parma  was 
to  join  them  with  seventeen  thousand  veterans ;  but,  in  the 
dead  of  night,  Howard  sent  into  the  port  blazing  fire-ships, 
and  the  Spaniards,  panic-struck,  stood  to  sea.  With  daylight, 
the  English  started  in  keen  pursuit.  The  Spanish  admiral, 
thinking  no  longer  of  victory  but  only  of  escape,  attempted 
to  return  home  by  sailing  around  Scotland.  But  fearful 
storms  arose.  Ship  after  ship,  crippled  in  spar  and  hull, 
went  down  before  the  fury  of  the  northern  blasts.  Scarcely 
one-third  of  the  fleet  escaped  to  tell  the  fearful  tale  of  the 
loss  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 

The  effect  of  this  victory  was  to  make  England  Mistress  of 
the  Sea,  to  ensure  the  independence  of  Holland,  to  encourage 
the  Huguenots  in  France,  and  to  weaken  Spanish  influence 
in  European  affairs.  From  this  shipwreck  dates  the  decay 
of  Spain. 

Commerce  was  encouraged  by  Elizabeth,  and  her  reign  was 
an  era  of  maritime  adventure.  The  old  Viking  spirit  blazed 
forth  anew.  English  sailors  —many  of  whom  were,  by  turns, 
explorers,  pirates,  and  Protestant  knight-errants — traversed 
every  sea.  Frobisher,  daring  Arctic  icebergs,  sought  the 
northwest  passage.  Drake  sailed  round  the  world,  capturing 
en  route  many  a  galleon  laden  with  the  gold  and  silver  of  the 
new  world.  Hawkins  traced  the  coast  of  Guinea.  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  attempted  to  plant  a  colony  in  Virginia,  so 
named,  by  this  courtier's  tact,  after  the  Virgin  Queen.  In 
1600  the  East  India  Company  was  formed,  and  from  this 
sprung  the  English  empire  in  India. 

ElizdbetKs  Favorites,  cast  a  gleam  of  romance  over  her 
reign.  Notwithstanding  her  real  strength  and  ability,  she 
was  capricious,  jealous,  petulant,  deceitful,  and  vain  as  any 


466 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CEKTURT. 


[1586. 


coquette.  With  waning  beauty,  she  became  the  greedier 
of  compHments.  Her  youthful  courtiers,  humoring  this 
weakness,  would,  while  approaching  the  throne,  shade 
their  eyes  with  their  hands,  as  if  dazzled  by  her  radiance. 
Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester  and  son  of  Northumber- 
land (p.  461),  was  her  earliest  favorite.*    After  Leicester's 

death,  the  Earl  of  Essex 
succeeded  to  the  royal 
regard.  Once,  during  a 
heated  discussion,  Essex 
turned  his  back  upon 
Elizabeth,  whereupon 
she  boxed  his  ears.  The 
favorite,  forgetting  his 
position,  laid  his  hand 
upon  his  sword.  But 
the  queen  forgave  the 
insult,  and  sent  him  to 
Ireland,  then  in  revolt. 
Essex  met  with  little  suc- 
cess, and,  against  Eliza- 
beth's orders,  returned, 
and  rushed  into  her 
presence  unannounced. 
Though  forgiven  again,  he  was  restive  lender  the  restrictions 
imposed,  and  made  a  wild  attempt  to  raise  a  revolt  in  Lon- 
don. For  this  he  was  tried  and  beheaded.  Even  at  the 
last,  his  life  would  have  been  spared,  if  Elizabeth  had 
received  a  ring  which,  in  a  moment  of  tenderness,  she  had 
given  him  to  send  her  whenever  he  needed  her  help. 


TOMB   OF   QUEEN-    ELIZABETH. 


*  Of  the  magnificent  entertainment  given  to  Elizabeth  in  his  castle ;  of  the  story 
of  the  ill-fated  Amy  Eobsart ;  and  of  the  queen's  infatuation  with  this  arrogant,  vicious 
man,  Scott  has  told  in  his  inimitable  tale  of  Kenilworth. 


1603.]  THE     CIVILIZATlOlf.  467 

Two  years  later,  the  Countess  of  Nottingham  on  her  death- 
bed revealed  the  secret.  Essex  had  intrusted  her  with  the 
ring,  but  she  withheld  it  from  the  queen.  Elizabeth  in  her 
rage  shook  the  expiring  woman,  exclaiming,  "God  may  for- 
give you,  but  I  never  can."  From  this  time,  the  queen, 
sighing,  weeping,  and  refusing  food  and  medicine,  rapidly 
declined  to  her  death  (1603). 

THE     CIVILIZATION. 

The  Progress  of  Civilization  during  the  first  modern  century 
was  rapid.  Tlie  revival  of  learning  that  swept  over  Europe  heralding 
the  dawn  of  the  new  era,  the  outburst  of  maritime  adventure  that  fol- 
lowed the  discovery  of  America,  the  spread  of  the  "New  Learning" 
by  means  of  books,  schools,  and  travel,  and  the  establishment  of  strong, 
centralized  governments, — all  produced  striking  results. 

Commerce. — The  wonderful  development  of  commerce  we  have 
already  traced  in  connection  with  the  history  of  Spain,  Portugal,  Hol- 
land, England,  etc.  The  colonies  of  these  nations  now  formed  a  promi- 
nent part  of  their  wealth.  The  navies  of  Europe  were  already  formid- 
able. Sovereign  and  people  alike  saw,  in  foreign  trade  and  in  distant 
discoveries  and  conquests,  new  sources  of  gain  and  glory. 

Art. — Italy  had  now  become  the  instructress  of  the  nations.  She 
gave  to  the  world  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Raphael,  Correggio,  Michael 
Angelo,  Titian,  Paul  Veronese,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Guido  Reni,  Ben- 
venuto  Cellini,— masters  of  art,  whose  works  have  been  the  models  for 
all  succeeding  ages.  Painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture  felt  the 
magic  touch  of  their  genius.  The  intercourse  with  Italy  caused  by  the 
Italian  wars  did  much  to  naturalize  in  France  that  love  of  art  for  which 
she  has  since  been  so  renowned.  Francis  I.  brought  home  with  him 
sculptors  and  painters,  and  a  new  style  of  architecture — known  as  the 
French  Renaissance,  arose. 

Literature. — England  bore  the  choicest  fruit  of  the  Revival  of 
Learning.  All  the  Tudors,  except  Henry  VIL,  were  scholars.  Henry 
VIII,  spoke  four  languages  ;  and  Elizabeth,  after  she  became  queen, . 
**read  more  Greek  in  a  day,"  as  her  tutor,  old  Roger  Ascham,  used  to 
say,  "than  many  a  clergyman  read  of  Latin  in  a  week."  During  the 
brilliant  era  following  the  defeat  of  the  Armada,  the  English  language 
took  on  its  modern  form.  Poetry,  that  had  been  silent  since  the  days 
of  Chaucer,  broke  forth  anew.  Never  did  there  shine  a  more  splendid 
galaxy  of  writers  than  when,  toward  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century, 


408 


THE     SIXTEENTH     C  E  If  T  U  R  Y 


THE   GLORY    OF   THE    ELIZABETHAN    AGE. 


there  were  in  London,  Sbakspere,  Bacon,  Spenser,  Chapman,  Drayton, 
Kaleigh,  Ben  Jonson,  Marlowe,  and  Sir  Philip  Sidney.  Shakspere  per- 
fected the  drama  ;  Bacon  developed  a  new  philosophy  ;  Hooker  shaped 
the  strength  of  prose,  and  Spenser,  the  harmony  of  poetry. 

Modern  Science  already  began  to  manifest  glimpses  of  the  new 
methods  of  thought.  The  fullness  of  its  time  was  not  to  come  until 
our  own  day.  Copernicus  taught  that  the  sun  is  the  center  of  the  solar 
system.  Vesalius,  by  means  of  dissection,  laid  the  foundation  of 
anatomy.  Galileo,  in  the  cathedral  at  Pisa,  caught  the  secret  of  the 
pendulum.  Kepler  was  now  watching  the  planets.  Gilbert,  Eliza- 
beth's physician,  was  making  a  few  electrical  experiments.  Gesner 
and  Caesalpinus  were  finding  out  how  to  classify  animals  and  plants. 
And  Palissy,  the  potter,  declared  his  belief  that  fossil  shells  were  once 
real  shells. 


MERRIE  ENGLANDE"  UNDER  "GOOD  QUEEN  BESS. 


Home-Life. — Mansions. — The  gloomy  walls  and  serried  battle- 
ments of  the  feudal  fortress  now  gave  place  to  the  pomp  and  grace  of 
the  Elizabethan  hall.  A  mixed  and  florid  architecture,  the  transition 
from  Gothic  to  Classical,  marked  the  dawn  of  the  Renaissance.  Tall, 
moulded  and  twisted  chimneys,  grouped  in  stacks  ;  crocketed  and  gilded 
turrets ;  fanciful  weather-vanes ;  gabled  and  fretted  fronts ;  great  oriel 


THE     CIVILIZATION.  469 

windows  ;  and  the  stately  terraces  and  broad  flights  of  steps  which  led 
to  a  formal  garden, — marked  the  exterior  of  an  Elizabethan  mansion. 
In  the  interior,  were  spacious  apartments  approached  by  grand  stair- 
cases ;  immense  mullioned  and  transomed  windows  ;  huge  carved  oak  or 
marble  chimney-pieces,  reaching  up  to  gilded  and  heavily  ornamented 
ceilings  ;  and  wainscoted  walls,  covered  with  pictorial  tapestries  so 
loosely  hung  as  to  furnish  a  favorite  hiding-place.  Chimneys  and  large 
glass  windows  were  the  especial  "  modern  improvements."  The  houses, 
which  three  centuries  before  were  lighted  only  by  loop-holes,  now 
reveled  in  a  broad  glare  of  sunlight ;  and  the  newly  found  "  chimney- 
corner  "  brought  increased  domestic  pleasure.  Manor-houses  were  built 
in  the  form  of  the  letter  E  (in  honor  of  the  Queen's  initial),  having  two 
projecting  wings,  and  a  porch  in  the  middle.  A  flower-garden  was 
essential,  and  a  surrounding  moat  was  still  common.  Town-houses, 
constructed  of  an  oak  frame  filled  in  with  brick  or  with  lath-and- 
plaster,  had  each  successive  story  projecting  over  the  next  lower ;  so 
that  in  the  narrow  streets  the  inmates  on  the  upper  floor  could  almost 
shake  hands  with  their  neighbors  across  the  way. 

Furniture,  even  in  noble  mansions,  was  still  rude  and  defective ; 
and  though  the  lofty  halls  and  banquetiug-rooms  were  hung  with  costly 
arras  and  glittered  with  plate, — to  possef^s  less  than  a  value  of  £100  in 
silver  plate  being  a  confession  of  poverty — the  rooms  in  daily  use  were 
often  bare  enough.  Henry  Vlll's  bed-chamber  contained  only  the  bed, 
two  Flemish  court-cupboards,  a  joined  stool,  a  steel  mirror,  and  the 
andirons,  firepan,  tongs,  and  fire-forks  belonging  to  the  hearth.  It  was 
an  age  of  ornamental  ironwork,  and  the  16tli -century  hearth  and  house- 
hold utensils  were  models  of  elegant  design.  The  chief  furniture  of  a 
mansion  consisted  of  grotesquely  carved  dressers  or  cupboards  ;  round, 
folding  tables  ;  a  few  chests  and  presses  ;  sometimes  a  household  clock 
— which  was,  as  yet,  a  rarity;  a  day-bed  or  sofa — considered  an  excess 
of  luxuiy;  carpets  for  couches  and  floors;  stiff",  high-backed  chairs;  and 
some  "  forms,"  or  benches,  with  movable  cushions.  The  bed  was  still 
the  choicest  piece  of  furniture.  It  was  canopied  and  festooned  like  a 
throne;  the  mattress  was  of  the  softest  down  ;  the  sheets  were  Holland 
linen  ;  and  over  the  blankets  was  laid  a  coverlet  embroidered  in  silk  and 
gold  with  the  arms  of  its  owner.  There  were  often  several  of  these  cum- 
bersome four-posters  in  one  chamber.  A  portable  bed  was  carried  about 
in  a  leathern  case,  whenever  the  lord  traveled  :  for  he  was  no  longer 
content,  like  his  ancestors,  with  the  floor  or  a  hard  bench. 

The  poorer  classes  of  Elizabeth's  time  had  also  improved  in  condi- 
tion. Many  still  lived  in  hovels  made  of  clay- plastered  wattles,  hav- 
ing a  hole  in  the  roof  for  chimney,  and  a  clay  floor  strewed  with  rushes, 
*'  under  which,"  said  Erasmus,  "  lies  unmolested  an  ancient  collection 
of  beer,  grease,  fragments,  bones,  and  everything  nasty."  These  were 
the  people  whose  uncleanly  habits  fed  the  terrible  plagues  that  period- 


470 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CENTURY. 


ically  raged  in  England.  But  houses  of  brick  and  stone  as  well  as  of 
oak  were  now  abundant  among  the  yeomanry.  The  wooden  ladle  and 
trencher  had  already  given  way  to  the  pewter  spoon  and  platter  ;  and 
the  feather  bed  and  pillow  were  fast  displacing  the  sack  of  straw  and 
the  log  bolster.  Sea-coal  (mineral  coal)  began  to  be  used  in  the  better 
houses,  as  the  destruction  of  forests  had  reduced  the  supply  of  firewood. 
The  dirt  and  sulphurous  odor  of  the  coal  prejudiced  many  against  its 
use,  and  it  was  forbidden  to  be  burnt  in  London  during  the  sitting  of 
Parliament,  lest  the  health  of  the  country  members  shoald  suffer. 


A   GROUP   OF  COURTIERS   IN   THE   TIME   OF   ELIZABETH. 


Dress. — The  fashionable  man  now  wore  a  large  starched  ruff;  a  pad- 
ded, long-waisted  doublet;  "trunk-hose"  distended  with  wool,  hair, 
bran,  or  feathers, — a  fasliion  dating  from  Henry  VIII,  whose  flattering 
courtiers  stuffed  their  clothes  as  the  king  grew  fat ;  richly  ornamented 
nether  stocks,  confined  with  jeweled  and  embroidered  garters ;  gemmed 
and  rosetted  shoes;  and,  dangling  at  dangerous  angles  over  all,  a  long 
Toledo  blade.  The  courtiers  glistened  with  precious  stones,  and  even 
the  immortal  Shakspere  wore  rings  in  his  ears  !  The  ladies  appeared 
in  caps,  hats,  and  hoods  of  every  shape,  one  of  the  prettiest  being  that 
now  known  as  the  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  cap-  The  hair  was  dyed,  curled, 
frizzed  and  crimped,  in  a  variety  of  forms  and  colors.  Elizabeth,  who, 
it  is  said,  had  eighty  wigs,  was  seen  sometimes  in  black  hair,  sometimes 
in  red  :  the  Queen  of  Scots  wore  successively  black,  yellow,  and  auburn 
hair.  But  yellow  was  most  in  favor  ;  and  many  a  little  street  blonde  was 
decoyed  aside  and  shorn  of  her  locks,  to  furnish  a  periwig  for  some  fine 
lady.    The  linen  ruff,  worn  in  triple  folds  about  the  neck,  was  of  "  pre- 


THE     CIVILIZATIO]^^.  471 

posterous  amplitude  and  terrible  stiffness."*  The  long,  rigid  bodice, 
descending  almost  to  the  knees,  was  crossed  and  recrossed  with  lacers  ; 
and  about  and  below  it  stretched  the  farthingale,  standing  out  like  a 
large  balloon.  Knitted  and  clocked  black-silk  stockings — a  new  im- 
portation from  France — were  worn  with  high-heeled  shoes,  or  with 
white,  green,  or  yellow  slippers.  Perfumed  and  embroidered  gloves  ; 
a  gold-handled  fan,  finished  with  ostrich  or  peacock  feathers ;  a  small 
looking-glass  hanging  from  the  girdle  ;  a  black-velvet  mask  ;  and  long 
loops  of  pearls  about  the  neck, — completed  the  belle's  costume. 

At  Table,  all  wore  their  hats,  as  they  did  also  in  church  or  at  the 
theatre.  The  noon  dinner  was  the  formal  meal  of  the  day,  and  was 
characterized  by  stately  decorum.  It  was  "  served  to  the  Virgin  Queen 
as  if  it  were  an  act  of  worship,  amid  kneeling  pages,  guards,  and  ladies, 
and  to  the  sound  of  trumpets  and  kettledrums."  The  nobles  followed 
the  royal  example  and  kept  up  princely  style.  The  old  ceremonious 
custom  of  washing  hands  was  still  observed ;  perfumed  water  was  used, 
and  the  ewer,  basin,  and  hand-towel  were  ostentatiously  employed.  The 
guests  were  ushered  into  the  hall,  and  seated  at  the  long  table  accord- 
ing to  their  rank  ;  the  conspicuous  salt-cellar — an  article  which  super- 
stition decreed  should  always  be  the  first  one  placed  on  the  table — still 
separated  the  honored  from  the  inferior  guests.  The  favorite  dishes 
were  a  boar's  head  wreathed  with  rosemary,  and  sucking-pigs  which 
had  been  fed  on  dates  and  muscadine.  Fruit-jellies  and  preserves  were 
delicacies  recently  introduced.  Etiquette  pervaded  everything,  even  to 
the  important  display  of  plate  on  the  dresser :  thus,  a  prince  of  royal 
blood  had  five  steps  or  shelves  to  his  cupboard;  a  duke,  four;  a  lesser 
noble,  three  ;  a  knight  banneret,  two;  and  a  simple  gentleman,  one. 
Forks  were  still  unknown,  but  they  were  brought  from  Italy  early  in 
the  17th  century.  Bread  and  meats  were  presented  on  the  point  of  a 
knife,  the  food  being  conveyed  to  the  mouth  by  the  left  hand.  After 
dinner,  the  guests  retired  to  the  withdrawing-room,  or  to  the  garden- 
house,  for  the  banquet.  Here  choice  wines,  pastry,  and  sweetmeats 
were  served,  and  a  "marchpane"  (a  little  sugar-and-almond  castle) 
was  merrily  battered  to  pieces  with  sugar  plums.  Music,  mummery, 
and  masquerading  enlivened  the  feast. 

With  common  people,  ale,  spiced  and  prepared  in  various  forms,  was 
the  popular  drink  ;  and  the  ale-houses  of  the  day,  which  were  frequented 
too  often  by  women,  were  centers  of  vice  and  dissipation.  Tea  and  coffee 
were  yet  unknown,  and  were  not  introduced  till  the  next  century.f 

*  Starch  was  then  new  in  England,  and  is  mentioned  by  Philip  Stubbe  (p.  461) 
as  "  the  devil's  liquor  with  which  the  women  smeare  and  starche  their  neckerchiefs." 
The  inventress  of  this  much  offending  yellow-starch  finally  perished  on  the  scaffold, 
wearing  one  of  her  own  stiff  collars,  after  which  they  went  out  of  fashion. 

t  The  Portuguese  imported  some  tea  from  China  in  the  16th  century,  but  it  was 
over  sixty  years  after  the  death  of  Elizabeth  before  the  munificent  gift  of  two  pounds 


472 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CEISTTURY. 


Domestic  Manners  were  stern  and  formal.  Sons,  even  in  mature 
life,  stood  silent  and  uncovered  in  their  father's  presence,  and  daugh- 
ters knelt  on  a  cushion  until  their  mother  had  retired.  The  yard-long 
fan-handles  served  for  whipping  rods,  and  discipline  was  enforced  so 
promptly  and  severely  that  grown-up  men  and  women  often  trembled 
at  the  sight  of  their  parents.  Lady  Jane  Grey  confided  to  Roger 
Ascliam  that  her  parents  used  "  so  sharply  to  taunt  her,  and  to  give  her 
such  pinches,  nips  eindbobs  "  at  the  slightest  ofEence,  that  she  was  in  con- 
stant terror  before  them.  At  school,  the  same  princi[)le8  prevailed,  and 
the  16th  century  school-boy  could  well  appreciate  the  classically- 
recorded  woes  of  the  little  Ancient  Roman.     (See  p.  280.) 

Street  Life.— The  Elizabethan  City -Madam  beguiled  the  hours  of 
her  husband's  absence  at  the  mart,  or  exchange,  by  sitting  with  her 
daughters  outside  the  street  door,  under  the  successive  projections  of 
her  tall,  half-timber  house,  and  gazing  upon  the  sights  of  the  dirty,  nar- 
row, crooked,  unpaved,  London  highway.  Here,  while  they  regaled 
themselves  with  sweetmeats,   or  smoked   the   newly- imported  Indian 

weed,  they  watched  the  full- 
toileted  gallant  in  his  morn- 
ing  lounge  toward  St.  Paul's 
churchyard  and  the  neigh- 
boring book-stalls,  or  his 
after-dinner  stroll  toward  the 
Blackfriars  Theatre,  where, 
at  three  o'clock  or  at  the 
floating  of  the  play-house 
flag,  was  to  be  acted  the 
newest  comedy  of  a  rising 
young  play-writer,— one  Wil- 
liam Shakspere.  Occasion- 
ally, a  roystering  party  of 
roughs,  armed  with  wooden 
siiears  and  shields,  would  be 
seen  hurrying  to  the  Thames 
for  a  boat-joust,  bawling  the 
while  to  one  another  their  braggart  threats  of  a  good  wetting  in  the 
coming  clash  of  boats  ;  or  one  of  the  new-fashioned,  carved,  canopied, 
and  curtained  wagons,  called  coaches,  would  go  jolting  along,  having 
neither  springs  nor  windows,  but  with  wide-open  sides  which  offered 
unobstructed  view  of  the  painted  and  bewigged  court-ladies  who  filled 
it ;  or  smiles,  and  bows,  and  the  throwing  of  kisses,  would  mark  the 


SHAKSPERE'S    GLOBE    THEATRE. 


of  tea,  from  the  English  East  India  Company  to  Catharine,  queen  of  Charles  11., 
heralded  in  England  a  new  national  beverage.  Tea  was  soon  afterwards  sold  at  from 
six  to  ten  guineas  per  pound.    The  first  coflfee-house  was  opened  in  1651. 


THE     CIVILIZATION^. 


473 


passing  of  a  friend  with  her  retinue  of  flat-capped,  blue-gowned,  white 
stockinged  'prentices — a  comparatively  new  class,  whose  street  clubs 
were  destined  thenceforth  to  figure  in  nearly  every  London  riot,  and 
who  were  finally  to  be  the  conquerors  at  Marston  Moor  and  Naseby ;  or 
a  group  of  high-born  ladies,  out  for  a  frolic,  would  cross  the  distant 
bridge  on  their  way  to  Southwark  bear-garden,  where  for  threepence 
they  could  enjoy  the  roars  and  flounderings  of  a  chained  and  blinded 
bear  worried  by  English  bull-dogs.  Now,  her  ears  caught  the  sound  of 
angry  voices  from  the 
neighboring  ale-hous.', 
where  a  party  of  wom- 
en were  drinking  and 
gambling  ;  and  now, 
a  poor  old  withered 
dame  rushed  swiftly 
by,  hotly  pursued  by  a 
shouting  crowd,  armed 
with  long  pins  to  prick 
"  the  witch "  and  see 
if  blood  would  follow, 
or  grasping  at  her  hair 
to  tear  out  a  handful 
to  burn  for  a  counter- 
charm.     Anon,  a  poor 

fellow,  with  the  blood  flowing  from  his  freshly-cropped  ears,  came  stag 
gering  home  from  a  public  flogging,— it  was  his  second  punishment 
for  vagrancy,  and  lucky  he  to  escape  being  branded  with  a  V,  and  sold 
as  a  slave  to  his  informer.  There  was,  indeed,  no  end  of  "rogues, 
vagabonds  and  sturdy  beggars,"  *  singly  or  in  crowds,  who  passed  and 
repassed  from  morning  till  night ;  and  many  a  bloody  brawl,  robbery, 
and  even  murder,  this  16th-century  Londoner  could  witness  from  her 
own  street-door.  At  night,  the  narrow  city-lanes  swarmed  with  thieves, 
who  skilfully  dodged  the  rays  of  the  flaring  cresset  borne  by  the 
marching  w^atch.  Fortunately,  earl>  hours  were  fashionable,  and  nine 
o'clock  saw  the  bulk  of  society-folk  within  their  own  homes. 

Along  the  wretched  country  roads,  most  travel  was  on  horseback,  the 
ladies  riding  on  a  pillion  behind  a  servant.  There  was  no  regular  stage 
communication.  On  the  great  road  to  Scotland  were  some  royal  post 
stations,  but  ordinary  letters  were  sent  by  chance  merchants  or  by  a 
special  courier. 

Holiday-Life. — Sunday  was  the  great  day  for  all  diversions,  from 


THE    RACK. 

(A  Mode  of  Punishment  in  the  SixteeDth  Century.) 


*  It  is  curious  to  find  included  under  this  head  the  scholars  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge Universities,  who  were  expressly  "  forbidden  to  beg  except  they  had  the 
authority  of  the  chancellor,"    (Compare  A  German  Traveling  Student,  p.  476.) 


m 


THE     SIXTEENTH     CENTURY. 


cock-figliting  to  theatre-go- 
ing. The  numerous  churcli 
festivals  gave  every  working- 
man  a  round  of  relaxation. 
Christmas-time,  especially, 
was  one  continued  saturnalia, 
from  All-hallow  eve  to  the 
Feast  of  the  Purification. 
What  mummerings  andmas- 
queradings,  what  pipings  and 
drummings,  what  jingling  of 
bells  and  shouting  of  songs, 
what  flaunting  of  plumes 
and  mad  whirling  of  ker- 
chiefs around  all  England  1 
Through  every  borough  and 
village,  a  motley,  grotesqne- 
ly-masked  troop  of  revelers, 
armed  with  bells,  drums,  and 
squeaking  fifes,  and  mounted 
on  hobby-horses  or  great  pasteboard  dragons,  followed  its  chosen 
"Lord  of  Misrule  "  wherever  his  riotous  humor  led;  even  into  the 
churches,  where  the  service  was  abruptly  dropped,  and  the  congrega- 
tion clambered  upon  the  high-backed  seats,  to  see  the  wild  pranks  of 
the  licensed  merry-crew  ;  even  into  the  churchyards,  where,  among  the 
clustering  graves,  they  broached  and  drank  barrels  of  strong,  coarse  ale. 
There  was  gentler  but  no  less  hearty  cheer  by  the  home  firesides, 
where  the  huge  yule-log  on  Christmas  eve,  and  the  rosemary-garnished 
boar's  head  at  Christmas  dinner,  were  each  brought  in  with  joyous 
ceremonies.  Servants  and  children  joined  in  the  season's  universal 
license  ;  every  house  resounded  with  romping  games,  and  every  street 
re-echoed  Christmas  carols. 

And  who  could  resist  May-day  ?  The  tall,  garlanded  May-pole,  drawn 
in  by  flower-wreathed  oxen  ;  the  jollity  of  the  ceaseless  dance  about  its 
fluttering  ribands;  the  by-play  of  Robin  Hood  and  Friar  Tuck  :  the 
jingling  Morris-dancers ;  the  trippings  of  the  milk-maids  with  their 
crowns  of  silver  tankards  ;  and  the  ubiquitous,  rollicking  hobby-horse 
and  dragon, — made  the  live-long  day  one  burst  of  happy  frolic. 


LONDON     WATCHMEN. 

(Sixteenth  Century.) 


SCENES    IN    GERMAN    LIFE. 


Scene  I. — The  Home  of  the  Land-junker,  or  country  knight,  is  a 
gloomy,  dirty,  and  comfortless  castle.  Placed  on  a  barren  height,  ex- 
posed to  winter  blast  and  summer  sun  ;  destitute  of  pure  water,  though 


THE     CIVILIZATIOK.  4:16 

surrounded  by  stagnant  ditches  ;  lighted  by  dim  panes  in  tiny  windows  ; 
crowded  witli  inmates — the  junker's  younger  brothers  and  cousins, 
with  their  families,  numberless  servants,  men-at-arms,  and  laborers  ; 
pestered  in  summer  by  noisome  smells  and  insect  hordes,  that  rise  from 
steaming  pools  and  filth-heaps  in  the  foul  courtyard ;  cold  and  dreary 
in  winter,  despite  the  huge  tiled  stoves  fed  by  forest  logs  so  broad  that 
beds  are  sometimes  made  upon  them  ;  scantily  furnished,  but  always 
well  stocked  with  weapons  kept  bright  by  constant  use  against  the 
raids  of  roving  marauders  and  quarrelsome  neighbors, — the  junker's 
dwelling  is  still  more  a  fortress  than  a  home.  It  has  its  prisons,  and 
they  are  not  unused.  In  this  one,  perhaps,  pines  and  frets  a  burgher- 
merchant,  waylaid  and  robbed  upon  the  road  and  now  held  for  his 
ransom,  who  wearily  eats  his  dole  of  black  bread  while  the  lady  of  the 
castle,  singing  cheerfully,  makes  coats  and  mantles  of  the  fine  cloth 
stolen  from  his  pack  ;  in  that  one,  sulks  a  peasant,  sore  with  the  stripes 
received  for  crossing  the  path  of  the  master's  chase,  and  in  imagination 
sharpening  his  next  arrow  for  the  master's  heart.  Jostling  one  another 
over  the  open  kitchen  fire,  the  servants  of  the  various  households  push, 
and  crowd,  and  wrangle ;  while  from  the  courtyard  comes  the  sound  of 
playing  children,  barking  dogs  and  cackling  geese. 

The  junker's  frau  is  general  housekeeper,  head-cook,  and  family 
doctor ;  and  she  has  learned  by  frequent  experience  how  to  manage 
a  tipsy  husband  and  his  rude  guests,  who  amuse  themselves  in  her 
presence  by  making  coarse  jokes  and  by  blackening  the  faces  of  her 
domestics.  She  is  proud  of  her  family  brocades  and  gold  heirlooms, 
and  looks  wrathfully  on  the  costly  furs,  velvets,  and  pearls  worn  without 
right — as  she  thinks — by  the  upstart  wives  of  rich  city  burgesses. 

The  junker's  sons  grow  up  with  horses,  dogs,  and  servants.  They  study 
a  little  Latin  at  the  village  school,  watch  the  poultry  for  their  mother, 
and  scour  the  woods  for  wild  pears  and  mushrooms  to  be  dried  for 
winter  use.  Occasionally,  a  boy  goes  through  the  course  at  the 
university  ;  but  it  is  oftener  the  son  of  a  shoemaker  or  a  village 
pastor,  thnn  of  a  nobleman,  who  rises  to  distinction.  Now  and  then,  a 
strolling  ballad-singer  delights  the  junker's  ear  with  a  choice  bit  of 
scandal  that  he  has  been  hired  to  propagate  far  and  wide  in  satirical 
verse:  or  an  itinerant  pedlar  brings  the  little  irregularly-published 
news-sheet,  with  its  startling  accounts  of  maidens  possessed  with 
demons,  the  latest  astrological  prediction,  and  the  strange  doings  of 
Dr.  Martin  Luther.  Otherwise,  the  master  hunts,  quarrels,  feasts,  and 
carouses.  Ruined  estates,  heavy  debts,  and  prolonged  lawsuits  dis- 
turb his  few  sober  hours.  He  strives  to  bolster  up  his  fortunes  by 
building  toll-bridges  (even  where  there  is  no  river),  and  by  keeping 
such  wretched  roads  that  the  traveling  merchant's  wagons  unavoidably 
upset,  when  he,  as  lord  of  the  manor,  claims  the  scattered  goods. 


476  THE    sixtee:nth    cektuey. 

Scene  II. — The  Home  of  the  Rich  Patrician  is  luxurious.  He  is  the 
money-owner  of  the  realm.  A  merchant-prince,  he  traffics  with  Italy 
and  the  Levant,  buys  a  whole  year's  harvest  from  the  King  of  Portugal, 
has  invoices  from  both  the  Indies,  and  takes  personal  journeys  to  Cal- 
cutta. He  is  statesman,  soldier,  and  art-patron.  For  him  are  painted 
Albert  Diirer's  most  elaborate  pictures,  and  in  his  valuable  library  are 
found  the  choicest  books,  fresh  from  the  new  art  of  printing.  He 
educates  his  sons  in  Italy,  and  inspires  his  daughters  with  a  love  for 
learning.  He  shapes  the  German  policy  of  imperial  cities,  and  sup- 
plies emperor  and  princes  with  gold  from  his  strong-banded  coffers. 
When,  in  1575,  Herr  Marcus  Fugger  entertains  at  dinner  a  wandering 
Silesian  prince,  that  potentate's  chamberlain  is  bewildered  by  the  costly 
display,  which  he  thus  notes  down  in  his  journal :  "  Such  a  banquet  I 
never  beheld.  The  repast  was  spread  in  a  hall  with  more  gold  than 
color ;  the  marble  floor  was  smooth  as  ice  ;  the  sideboard,  placed  the 
whole  length  of  the  hall,  was  set  out  with  drinking  vessels  and  rare 
Venetian  glasses  ;  there  was  the  value  of  more  than  a  ton  of  gold. 
Herr  Fugger  gave  to  His  Princely  Highness  for  a  drinking-cup  an 
artistically-formed  ship  of  the  most  beautiful  Venetian  glass.  He  took 
his  Princely  Highness  through  the  prodigious  great  house  to  a  turret, 
where  he  showed  him  a  treasure  of  chains,  jewels,  and  precious  stones, 
besides  curious  coins,  and  pieces  of  gold  as  large  as  my  head.  After- 
wards he  opened  a  chest  full  of  ducats  and  crowns  up  to  the  brim.  The 
turret  itself  was  paved  halfway  down  from  the  top  with  gold  thalers." 
—{Diary  of  Hans  Von  Schweinichen.) 

Scene  III.— 4  German  Traveling  Student  (16th  century).— The  Ger- 
man boy  who  wished  to  become  a  scholar  had  often  a  weary  road  to 
plod.  As  Schutz,  or  younger  student,  he  was  always  the  fag  of  some 
bacchant,  or  older  comrade,  for  whom  he  was  forced  to  perform  the  most 
menial  offices — his  only  consolation  being  that  the  bacchant,  should  he 
ever  enter  a  university,  would  be  equally  humiliated  by  the  students 
whose  circle  he  would  join.  Thousands  of  bacchanten  and  schiitzen 
wandered  over  Germany,  sipping  like  bees,  first  at  one  school,  then  at 
another  ;  everywhere  begging  their  way  under  an  organized  system, 
which  protected  the  older  resident  students  from  the  greedy  zeal  of  new 
arrivals.  The  autobiography  of  Thomas  Platter,  who  began  life  as  a 
Swiss  shepherd-boy  and  ended  it  as  a  famous  Bale  schoolmaster,  gives 
us  some  curious  details  of  this  scholastic  vagrancy.  At  nine  years  of 
age,  he  was  sent  to  the  village  priest  of  whom  he  "learned  to  sing  a 
little  of  the  salve  and  to  beg  for  eggs,  besides  being  cruelly  beaten  and 
ofttimes  dragged  by  the  ears  out  of  the  house."  He  soon  joined  his 
wandering  cousin,  Paulus,  who  proved  even  a  harder  master  than  the 
priest.  "  There  were  eight  of  us  traveling  together,  three  of  whom 
were  schiitzen,  I  being  the  youngest.    When  I  could  not  keep  up  well, 


THE     CIVILIZATIOK.  477 

Paulus  came  behind  me  with  a  rod  and  switched  me  on  my  bare  legs, 
for  I  had  no  stockings  and  bad  shoes."  The  little  schtitzen  had  to  beg 
or  steal  enough  to  supiwrt  their  seniors,  though  they  were  never  allowed 
to  sit  at  table  with  them,  and  were  often  sent  supperless  to  their  bed  of 
foul  straw  in  the  stable,  while  the  bacchanten  dined  and  slept  in  the 
inn.  The  party  stopped  at  Nuremberg,  then  at  Dresden,  and  thence 
journeyed  to  Breslau,  "  suifering  much  from  hunger  on  the  road,  eating 
nothing  for  days  but  raw  onions  and  salt,  or  roasted  acorns  and  crabs. 
We  slept  in  the  open  air,  for  no  one  would  take  us  in,  and  often  they 
set  the  dogs  upon  us."  At  Breslau  there  were  seven  parishes,  each  with 
its  separate  school  supported  by  alms,  no  schiitzen  being  allowed  to  beg 
outside  of  his  own  parish.  Here  also  was  a  hospital  for  the  students, 
and  a  specified  sum  provided  by  the  town  for  the  sick.  At  the  schools, 
the  bacchanten  had  small  rooms  with  straw  beds,  but  the  schiitzen  lay 
on  the  hearth  in  winter,  and  in  summer  slept  on  heaps  of  grass  in  the 
churchyard.  "  When  it  rained  we  ran  into  the  school,  and  if  there  was 
a  storm  we  chanted  the  responsoria  and  other  things  almost  all  night 
with  the  succentor."  There  was  such  "  excellent  begging"  at  Breslau 
that  the  party  fell  ill  from  over-eating.  The  little  ones  were  Sometimes 
•'  treated  at  the  beer-houses  to  strong  Polish  peasant  beer,  and  got  so 
drunk  we  could  not  find  our  way  home."  "  In  the  school,  nine  bachelors 
always  read  together  at  the  same  hour  in  one  room,  for  there  were  no 
printed  Greek  books  in  the  country  at  that  time.  The  preceptor  alone 
had  a  printed  Terence  ;  what  was  read,  therefore,  had  first  to  be  dictated, 
then  parsed  and  construed,  and  lastly  explained  ;  so  that  the  bacchanten, 
when  they  went  away,  carried  with  them  large  sheets  of  writing."  As 
to  the  schiitzen,  the  begging  absorbed  most  of  their  time.  Soon,  the 
wandering  fever  came  on  again,  and  the  party  tramped  back  to  Dresden 
and  then  to  Ulm,  falling  meantime  into  great  want.  "Often  I  was  so 
hungry  that  I  drove  the  dogs  in  the  streets  away  from  their  bones  and 
gnawed  them.".  The  bacchanten  now  became  so  cruel  and  despotic  that 
Thomas  ran  away,  weeping  bitterly  that  no  one  cared  for  him.  *'  It  was 
cold,  and  I  had  neither  cap  nor  shoes,  only  torn  stockings  and  a  scanty 
jacket."  Paulus,  having  no  thought  of  giving  up  so  good  a  provider, 
followed  him  hither  and  thither  to  the  great  fright  and  distress  of  the 
poor  little  schiitz,  who  had  many  a  narrow  escape  from  the  vengeance 
of  his  pursuer.  At  last  he  reached  his  beloved  Switzerland,  which,  he 
pathetically  records,  "made  me  so  happy  I  thought  I  was  in  heaven." 
At  Zurich,  he  offered  his  begging  services  to  some  bacchanten  in  return 
for  their  teaching,  but  "learned  no  more  with  them  than  with  the 
others."  At  Strasburg  he  had  no  better  success,  but  at  Schlettstadt  he 
found  "the  first  school  in  which  things  went  on  well."  It  was  the  year 
of  the  Diet  of  Worms,  and  Thomas  was  now  eighteen  years  old.  He 
had  been  a  nominal  pupil  for  nine  years,  but  could  not  yet  read.     His 


478  THE     SIXTEENTH     CEl^TURY. 

hard  life  had  left  its  trace,  and  though,  after  tlie  custom  of  the  time, 
his  name  was  formally  Latinized  into  Platterus,  his  preceptor  con- 
temptuously added  :  "  Poof!  what  a  measly  schiitz  to  have  such  a  fine 
name ! "  Scholars  soon  so  increased  in  this  town  that  there  was  not 
support  for  all,  and  Thomas  tried  another  village,  "  where  there  was  a 
tolerably  good  school  and  more  food  ;  hut  we  were  obliged  to  be  so  con- 
stantly in  church  that  we  lost  all  our  time."  At  last  he  returned  to 
Zurich,  and  placed  himself  under  "  a  good  and  learned  but  severe  school- 
master. I  sat  down  in  a  corner  near  his  chair  and  said  to  myself:  '  In 
this  corner  will  I  study  or  die.'  I  got  on  well  with  Father  Myconius  ; 
he  read  Terence  to  us,  and  we  had  to  conjugate  and  decline  every  word 
of  a  play.  It  often  happened  that  my  jacket  was  wet  and  my  eyes 
almost  blind  with  fear,  and  yet  he  never  gave  me  a  blow,  save  once  on 
my  cheek."  Thomas's  trials  and  struggles  continued  for  some  years 
longer.  He  learned  rope-making  as  a  means  of  support,  and  used  to 
fasten  the  separate  sheets  of  his  Greek  Plautus  (a  precious  gift  from  a 
Bale  printer)  to  the  rope,  that  he  might  read  while  working.  He 
studied  much  at  night,  and,  in  time,  rose  to  be  a  corrector  of  the  press, 
then  citizfen  and  printer,  and,  finally.  Rector  of  the  Latin  Scliool  at 
Bale. 

SUMMARY. 

The  sixteenth  was  the  century  of  the  Reformation — the  century  of 
Charles  V".,  Francis  I.,  Henry  VIII.,  Pope  Leo  X..  Luther,  Calvin, 
Philip  II.,  William  the  Silent,  Catharine  de'  Medici,  Henry  IV.,  Queen 
Elizabeth,  Mary  Stuart,  Shakspyre,  Michael  Angelo,  Raphael,  and  Co- 
pernicus. It  saw  the  battle  of  Pa  via ;  the  conquest  of  Mexico  and 
Peru  ;  the  Reformation  in  Germany  ;  the  founding  of  the  order  of 
Jesuits  ;  the  abdication  of  Charles  V. ;  the  battle  of  Lepanto ;  the  Massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew ;  the  Union  of  Utrecht ;  the  triumph  of  the  Beg- 
gars ;  the  death  of  Mary  Stuart ;  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada ;  the 
battle  of  Ivry,  and  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 

READI  NG     REFERENCES. 

The  General  Modem  Histories  on  p.  1^9,  and  Special  Mstories  of  England,  France, 
Oermany,  etc.^  on  p.  U18. — D''Aubigne's  Reformation.— Ranke' s  History  of  the  Popes. 
—Robertson's  Life  of  Charles  V.— Motley's  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  United  Nether- 
lands, and  John  of  Barneveld.— Spalding^ s  History  of  the  Protestant  Eeforrnation 
{Catholic  view).—Pressense's  Early  Years  of  Christianity .—Seebohm'' s  Era  of  Protest- 
ant Revolution  {Epochs  of  History  Series).— Fisher'' s  Reformation  .—Hdusser''s  Period 
of  the  Reformation.— Hubner'' s  Life  of  Sixtus  V.—Audin's  Life  of  Luther  {Catholic 
view).—Froude's  Short  Studies  {Erasmus  and  Luther).— Smiles'' s  The  Huguenots.— 
Hannahs  Wars  of  the  Huguenots.— Freer' s  Histories  of  Henry  III.,  and  Maria  de' 
Medici.— Lingard's  History  of  England  {Era  of  the  Reformation,  Catholic  view).— 
Macaulay's  Ivry  {poem).— James's  Henry  of  Guise,  and  Huguenots  {fiction).— Dumas' 8 


COKTEMPOEARY     SOVEREIGN'S. 


479 


Forty-jive  Guardsmen  {fiction). — Ebei^s^s  Burgomaster's  Wife  {Siege  of  Leyden).— 
Miss  Yonge's  Unknown  to  History  {Eomance  illustrating  Mary  Stuarfs  times).— Mrs. 
Charles's  Scfionberg-  Cotta  Family. 


CH  RONOLOGY 


A.  D. 

Henry  VIII.,  King  of  England. .  ]509-'47 

Francis  I. ,  King  of  France ISIS-MT 

Luther  publishes  his  theses 1517 

Charles  V.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  1530-'56 

Cortez  takes  Mexico 1.521 

Battle  of  Pavia 15-25 

Bourbon  sacks  Rome 153T 

Reformers  called  Protes^-tants 1529 

Pizarro  conquers  Peru 1533 

Order  of  Jesuits  founded  by  Loyola.  1534 
Council  of  Trent 1545 


A.  D. 

Treaty  of  Passau 1552 

Abdication  of  Charles  V 1556 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England.. . .  1558-1603 

Battle  of  Lepanto 1571 

Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew 1572 

Siege  of  Leyden 1574 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  beheaded 1587 

Defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada 1588 

Henry  IV.,  King  of  France  1589 

Battle  of  Ivry 1590 

Edict  of  Nantes 1598 


CONTEMPORARY     SOVEREIGNS 


ENGLAND. 

Henry  VTIT..  1509 

Edward  VL..  1547 

Mary 1553 

Elizabeth....  1558 


FRANCE. 

Louis  XII     ..  1498 

Francis  1 1515 

Henry  II 1547 

Francis  II    . .  1559 

Charles  IX...  1560 

Henry  III....  1574 

Henrv  IV ... .  1589 


GERMANY. 

Maximilian  I.  1493 
Charles  V....   1520 


Ferdinand  I..  1556 
Maximilianll,  1564 
Rudolph  n...  1576 


SPAIN. 

Ferdinand    & 

Isabella  ...  1479 
Charles  1 1516 

Philip  II 1556 

Philip  HI....  1598 


BRINGING   IN  THE   YULE   LOG   AT   CHRISTMAS. 


480       THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY. 

I.    THE   THIRTY-YEARS    WAR. 

The  Causes  of  this  war  were  mainly :  1.  The  smoldering 
religious  hatred  of  half  a  century,  kindled  afresh  by  the 
Bohemian  troubles  ;  2.  The  church  lands  which  the  Protes- 
tants had  seized  and  the  Catholic  princes  sought  to  reclaim; 
3.  The  emperor  Ferdinand's  determination,  backed  by  Spain, 
to  subjugate  Germany  to  his  faith  and  house. 

Opening  of  the  War.— The  Bohemians,  exasperated  by 
Ferdinand's  intolerance  (p.  444),  revolted,  threw  two  of  the 
royal  councillors  out  of  a  window  of  the  palace  at  Prague, 
and  chose  as  king  the  elector-palatine  Frederick,  son-in-law 
of  James  I.  of  England.  War  ensued — the  old  Hussite  strug- 
gle over  again."  Bat  Frederick's  army  was  defeated  near 
Prague,  in  its  first  battle,  and  the  ''  Winter  King,"  as  he  was 
called,  for  he  reigned  only  one  winter,  instead  of  gaining  a 
kingdom,  in  the  end  lost  his  Palatinate,  and  died  in  poverty 
and  exile.*     Meanwhile,  Ferdmand  was  chosen  emperor. 

Spread  of  the  War. — As  the  seat  of  the  war  passed  from 
Bohemia  into  the  Palatinate,  the  other  Grerman  states,  in 
spite  of  their  singular  indifference  and  jealousy,  became 
involved  in  the  struggle.  Finally,  Christian  IV.  of  Denmark, 
who,  as   duke  of   Holstein,   was  a  prince  of  the  empire. 

Geographical  Quesf ions. —  hocBite  Prague.  Magdeburg.  Leipsic.  Lfltzen. 
Rocroi.  Freiburi?.  Nordlingeri.  Lens.  Rastadt.  Strasburg.— Point  out  Bohemia. 
Westphalia.  Saxony.  Pomerania.  The  Palatinate.  Brandenburg.  Alsace.  Brus- 
sels. Luxemburg.  Nimeguen.  Fleurus.  Steinkirk.  Neerwinden.  Blenheim. 
Ramillies.  Oudenarde.  Malplaquet.  Dunkirk.  Rochelle.  Nantes.  Utrecht.— Dover. 
Marston  Moor.    Naseby.    Dunbar.    Worcester. 

*  Little  did  his  wife  Elizabeth  dream,  as  she  wandered  among  foreign  courts  beg- 
ging shelter  for  herself  and  children,  that  her  grandson  would  sit  on  the  English 
throne. 


1627.] 


THE     THIRTY-YEARS     WAR. 


481 


espoused  Frederick's  cause.  In  this  crisis,  Count  Wallenstein 
volunteered  to  raise  an  army  for  the  emperor,  and  support 
it  from  the  hostile  territory.  The  magic  of  his  name  and 
the  hope  of  plunder  drew  adventurers  from  all  sides.  With 
one  hundred  thousand  men  he  invaded  Denmark.  Chris 
tian  was  forced  to  flee  to  his  islands,  and  finally  to  sue  foit 
peace  (1629). 
Ferdinand's  Triumph  now  appeared  complete.     Ger- 


4:82  THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY.  [1629. 

many  lay  helpless  at  his  feet.  The  dream  of  Charles  V. — an 
Austrian  monarch,  absolute,  like  a  French  or  a  Spanish 
king — seemed  about  to  be  realized.  Ferdinand  ventured  to 
force  the.  Protestants  to  restore  the  church  lands.  But 
Wallenstein's  mercenaries  had  become  as  obnoxious  to  the 
Catholics  as  to  the  Protestants,  and  Ferdinand  was  induced 
to  dismiss  him  just  at  the  moment  when,  as  the  event 
proved,  he  most  needed  his  services.     For,  at  this  juncture, 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  landed  with  a 
small  army  on  the  Baltic  coast.  A  pious,  prudent,  honest, 
resolute,  generous  man ;  maintaining  strict  discipline  among 
his  soldiers,  who  were  devoted  to  their  leader  ;  holding  pray- 
ers in  camp,  night  and  morning;  sharing  every  hardship  with 
the  meanest  private,  and  every  danger  with  the  bravest ;  treat- 
ing the  enemy  with  humanity,  respecting  the  rights  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  and  paying  for  the  food  he  took  ; 
improving  the  art  of  war  by  breaking  the  heavy  masses  of 
the  army  into  small  battalions,  by  throwing  off  their  armor, 
by  reducing  the  weight  of  their  weapons,  and  by  mingling 
the  cavalry,  pikemen,  artillery,  and  musketeers  so  as  to  sup- 
port one  another  in  battle, — such  was  the  man  who  now 
appeared  as  the  Protestant  champion.  In  Vienna,  they 
laughed  at  the  *^Snow  king,"  as  they  called  him,  and  said 
he  would  melt  under  n  southern  sun.  But,  by  the  next  sum- 
mer, he  had  taken  eighty  towns  and  fortresses.  France,  then 
ruled  by  Eichelieu  (p.  487),  made  a  treaty  promising  him 
money  to  pay  his  army;  and,  though  England  did  not  join 
him,  thousands  of  English  and  Scotch  rallied  around  the 
banner  of  the  Lion  of  the  North. 

Tilly,  the  best  imperial  general  after  Wallenstein,  now  laid 
siege  to  Magdeburg  (1631).  Gustavus  hastened  to  its  relief. 
But,  while  he  was  negotiating  leave  to  cross  the  Protestant 
states  of  Saxony  and  Brandenburg,  Magdeburg  was  taken  by 


1631.]  THE     THIRTY-YEARS     WAR.  483 

storm.  For  three  days,  Tilly's  bandit  soldiers  robbed  and 
murdered  throughout  the  doomed  city.  From  that  time, 
this  hero  of  thirty-six  battles  never  won  another  field.  On 
the  plain  of  Leipsic,  Gustavus  captured  Tilly's  guns,  turned 
them  upon  him,  and  drove  his  army  into  headlong  flight. 
The  victor,  falling  on  his  knees  amid  the  dead  and  dying, 
gave  thanks  to  God  for  his  success.  The  next  year,  at  the 
crossing  of  the  Lech,  Tilly  was  mortally  wounded. 

Count  WaUenstein*  was  now  recalled,  the  humbled  em- 
peror giving  him  absolute  power  over  his  army.  He  soon 
gathered  a  force  of  men,  who  knew  no  trade  but  arms  and 
no  principle  but  plunder.  After  months  of  maneuvering, 
during  which  these  skilful  generals  sought  to  take  each 
other  at  a  disadvantage,  Gustavus,  learning  that  Wallenstein 
had  sent  his  best  cavalry -officer,  Pappenheim,  with  ten  thou- 
sand men,  into  Westphalia,  attacked  the  imperial  forces  at 

Lilt^en,  near  Leipsic  (1632).  After  prayer,  his  army  sang 
Lather's  hymn,  *^  God  is  a  strong  tower,"  when  he  himself 
led  the  advance.  Three  times  that  day  the  hard-fought  field 
was  lost  and  won.  At  last,  Gustavus,  while  rallying  his 
troops,  was  shot.  The  riderless  horse,  galloping  wildly  down 
the  line,  spread  the  news.  But  the  Swedes,  undismayed, 
fought  under  duke  Bernard  of  Weimar  more  desperately  than 
ever.  Pappenheim,  who  had  been  hastily  recalled,  came 
up  only  in  time  to  meet  their  fierce  charge,  and  to  die  at 
the  head  of  his  dragoons.    Night  put  an  end  to  the  carnage. 

*  Walleii'^toin  lived  on  his  princely  estates  with  regal  pomp.  He  was  served  by 
nobles  :  s^ixty  high-born  pages  did  his  bidding,  and  sixty  life-guards  watched  in  his 
ante-chambor.  His  horses  ate  from  mangers  of  polished  steel,  and  their  stalls  were 
decorated  with  paintings.  When  he  traveled,  his  suite  fillod  sixty  carriages  ;  and  his 
baggage,  one  hundred  wagons.  The  silence  of  death  brooded  around  him.  He  so 
dreaded  noise  that  the  streets  leading  to  his  palace  in  Prague  were  closed  by  chains, 
lest  the  sound  of  carriage-wheels  should  reach  his  ear.  He  believed  in  astrology,  and 
that  the  stars  foretold  him  a  brilliant  destiny.  His  men  thought  him  to  be  in  league 
with  spirits,  and  hence  invulnerable  in  battle.  Like  Tilly,  he  wore  in  his  hat  a  blood- 
red  feather,  and  it  is  said  that  his  usual  dress  was  scarlet. 


484 


THE     SEVBNTEEI^TH     CENTURY. 


[1632. 


In  the  darkness,  Wallenstein 
crept  off,  leaving  behind  him 
his  colors  and  cannon.  Gus- 
tavus  had  fallen,  like  Epami- 
nondas,  in  the  hour  of  victory. 


BEFORE  THE  BATTLE  OF  LUTZEN. 


After  the  Death  of  Gustavus,  the  war  had  little  inter- 
est. As  the  Swedish  crown  fell  to  Christina,  a  little  girl  of 
six  years,  the  direction  of  military  affairs  was  given  to  the 
chancellor  Oxenstiern,  an  able  statesman  ;  under  him  were 
Bernard — duke  of  Weimar — and  generals  Horn  and  Banner, 
and,  later,  the  brilliant  Torstenson.  Ferdinand,  suspecting 
Wallenstein's  fidelity,  caused  his  assassination.  At  Nord- 
lingen  (1634),  the  Swedes  met  their  first  great  defeat,  and 
the  next  year  most  of  the  Protestant   states  of  Germany 


1635-1648.]         THE     THIRTY-YEARS     WAR.  485 

made  terms  with  the  emperor.  Still  the  war  dragged  on 
thirteen  years  longer. 

The  Character  of  the  contest  had  now  entirely  changed. 
It  was  no  longer  a  struggle  for  the  supremacy  of  Catholic  or 
Protestant.  The  progress  of  the  war  had  destroyed  the  feel- 
ings with  which  it  had  commenced.  France  had  openly 
taken  the  field  against  Spain  and  Austria.  Ferdinand  died, 
and  his  son,  Ferdinand  III.,  came  to  the  throne;  Richelieu 
and  Louis  XIII.  died,  but  Louis  XIV.  and  his  minister, 
Mazarin,  continued  the  former  policy.  Both  French  and 
Swedes  strove  to  get  lands  in  Germany,  and  Ferdinand 
struggled  to  save  as  much  as  possible  from  their  grasping 
hands.  The  contending  armies — composed  of  the  offscour- 
ings of  all  Europe — surged  to  and  fro,  leaving  behind  them 
a  broad  track  of  ruin.  The  great  French  generals,  Conde 
and  Turenne,  masters  of  a  new  art  of  war,  by  the  victories 
of  Rocroi,  Freihurg,^  Nordlinyen,  and  Lens,  assured  the 
power  of  France.  Maximilian  of  Bavaria  made  a  heroic 
stand  for  the  emperor ;  but,  at  last,  Bavaria  being  overrun, 
Bohemia  invaded,  a  part  of  Prague  taken, f  and  Vienna  itself 
threatened,  Ferdinand  was  forced  to  sign  the 

Peace  ofWestphalia  (1648).— This  treaty — the  basis  of 
our  modern  map  of  Europe — crystallized  the  results  of  the 
Reformation.  It  recognized  the  independence  of  Holland 
and  Switzerland  ;  granted  religious  freedom  to  the  Protes- 
tant states  of  Germany ;  and  gave  Alsace  to  France,  and  a 
part  of  Pomerania  to  Sweden. 

The  Effect  of  the  Thirty- Years  War  upon  Germany  is  not  yet 
effaced.  "  The  whole  land,"  says  Carlyle,  "  had  been  tortured,  torn  to 
pieces,  wrecked,  and  brayed  as  in  a  mortar."  Two-thirds  of  the  popu- 
lation had  disappeared.  Famine,  pestilence,  and  the  sword  had  con- 
verted vast  tracts  into  a  wilderness.     Whole  villages  stood  empty  save 

*  According  to  tradition,  Conde,  in  this  battle,  threw  his  marshal's  baton  into  the 
enemy's  trenches,  and  then  recovered  it,  s\yord  in  hand. 

t  Thus  the  Thirty- Years  War,  which  began  at  Prague,  ended  at  Prague. 


486 


THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY 


[1610. 


for  the  famished  dogs  that  prowled  around  the  deserted  houses.  All 
idea  of  nationality  was  lost ;  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  was  practically  at 
an  end,  and  the  name  German  emperor  was  henceforth  merely  an  empty 
title  of  the  Austrian  rulers ;  while,  between  the  Alps  and  the  Baltic, 
were  three  hundred  petty  states,  each  with  its  own  court,  coinage,  and 
customs.  Trade,  literature,  and  manufactures  were  paralyzed.  French 
manners  and  habits  were  servilely  imitated,  and  each  little  court  sought 
to  reproduce  in  miniature  the  pomp  of  Versailles.  Henceforth,  until 
almost  our  own  times,  the  empire  has  no  history,  and  that  of  the  differ- 
ent states  is  a  dreary  chapter  indeed.  "  From  the  Peace  of  Westphalia 
to  the  French  Revolution,"  says  Bryce,  "  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  sin- 
gle grand  character,  a  single  noble  enterprise,  a  single  sacrifice  to  public 
interests,  or  a  single  instance  where  the  welfare  of  the  nation  was  pre- 
ferred to  the  selfish  passion  of  the  prince.  When  we  ask  for  an  account 
of  the  political  life  of  Germany  in  the  18th  century,  we  hear  nothing  but 
the  scandals  of  buzzing  courts  and  the  wrangling  of  diplomatists  at 
never-ending  conp^resses."  Even  Lessing,  the  great  German  author, 
wrote,  "  Of  the  love  of  country,  I  have  no  conception  ;  it  appears  to  me, 
at  best,  a  heroic  weakness  which  I  am  right  glad  to  be  without." 


II.    FRANCE    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY. 

1.  THE  AGE  OF  RICHELIEU  (lG22-'42). 

Louis  XIII.  (1610-'43).— The  dagger  of  Kavaillac  gave 

the  crown  to  Henry's  son, 
a  boy  of  nine  years.  The 
queen-mother,  Maria  de' 
Medici,  the  regent,  squan- 
dered upon  her  favorites 
the  treasures  saved  by  the 
frugal  Sully,  who  now  re- 
tired in  disgrace.  The 
nobles,  regaining  power, 
levied  taxes  and  coined 
money,  as  in  feudal  times  ; 
while  the  Huguenots — 
forming  an  independent 
-garrisoned  fortresses,  hired  soldiers, 
and  held  political  assemblies.  All  was  chaos  until  Louis, 
having  come  of  age,  called  a  new  man  to  his  councils. 


LOUIS    XIII. 


state  within  the  state- 


1623.] 


FRANCE  —  THE    AGE    OP     RTCHELIEU. 


487 


Cardinal  de  Richelieu.* — Henceforth,  Louis  was  the 
second  man  in  France,  but  the  first  in  Europe.  The  king 
cowered  before  the 
genius  of  his  minis- 
ter, whom  he  hated 
and  yet  obeyed. 
Richelieu  had  three 
objects:  to  destroy 
the  Huguenots  as  a 
party,  to  subdue  the 
nobles,  and  to  hum- 
ble Austria. 

1.  By  building  a 
stone  mole  across 
the  entrance  to  the 
harbor  of  Eochelle 
and     shutting    out 

the  English  fleet,  Richelieu  reduced  that  Huguenot  strong- 
hold. The  other  Calvinist  towns  then  submitting,  he  gen- 
erously granted  the  reformers  freedom  of  worship. 

2.  By  destroying  the  feudal  castles,  and  by  attracting  the 
nobles  to  Paris,  where  they  became  absorbed  in  the  luxuries 
and  friyolities  of  the  court,  he  weakened  their  provincial 
power.  The  rebellious  aristocracy  hated  the  cardinal,  and 
formed  conspiracy  after  conspiracy  against  him.  But  he 
detected  each  plot,  and  punished  its  authors  with  merciless 
severity.    The  nobihty  crushed,  parliament  —  the   highest 


CARDINAL    RICHELIEU. 


*  "This  extraordinary  man,"  eays  Miss  Edwards,  in  her  charming  History  of 
France,  "  has  been,  not  inaptly,  compared  with  his  predecet^sor,  Wolsey  of  England. 
Like  him,  he  was  a  prelate,  a  minister,  a  consummate  politician,  and  a  master  of  the 
arts  of  intrigue.  He  gave  his  whole  attention  and  all  his  vast  abilities  to  affairs  of 
state,  was  prodigal  of  display,  and  entertained  projects  of  the  most  towering  ambi- 
tion. He  added  to  his  ministerial  and  priestly  dignities  the  emoluments  and  honors 
of  the  profession  of  arms;  assumed  the  dress  and  title  of  generalissimo  of  the  French 
army ;  and  wore  alternately  the  helmet  of  the  warrior  and  the  scarlet  hat  of  the 
cardinal." 


488 


THE     SEVEKTEEiq^TH     CENTUKY. 


[1643. 


court  of  law — was  forced  to  register  the  royal  edicts  with- 
out examination.     The  monarchy  was,  at  last,  absolute. 

3.  By  supporting  the  Protestants  during  the  Thirty- Years 
War,  Eichelieu  weakened  the  House  of  Austria  in  Germany 
and  Spain,  and  so  made  France  the  head  of  the  European 
States-System. 

Just  at  tlie  hour  of  his  triumph,  the  famous  minister  died, 
and,  as  if  to  show  how  closely  his  life  was  linked  to  that  of 
the  king,  Louis  survived  him  only  six  months. 


2.  THE  AGE  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  (1643-1715). 

Louis  XIV.  was  only  five  years  old  at  his  father's  death. 
Anne  of  Austria,  the   queen-mother,  became  regent,  and 

Mazariu  was  appointed 
prime-minister.  The  fruits 
of  Kichelieu's  foreign  policy 
were-  rapidly  gathered  by  the 
two  renowned  generals  — 
Conde  and  Turenne — who 
now  commanded  the  French 
armies.  The  battles  of  Ro- 
croi,*  Freiburg,  Nordlmgen, 
and  Lens  humiliated  Aus- 
tria, and  paved  the  way  to 
the  Peace  of  Westphalia. 
CARDINAL  MAZARiN.  Spalu,    howevcr,    continued 


*  It  is  thought  that  the  pupil  will  be  aided  in  remembering  these  important  bat- 
tles if  he  associate  the  four  names  with  Conde  and  Turenne  (though  Turenne  fought 
only  at  Freiburg  and  Nordlingen> :  the  names  frequently  repeated  together  will  form 
a  chain  of  association.  The  same  remark  holds  true  with  regard  to  Luxemburg's 
three  battles  fp.  492) ;  and  Marlborough's  four  battles  (p.  493).  On  the  field  of 
Rocroi  the  French  found  the  remains  of  the  Castilian  infantry,  first  formed  by  (Jon- 
salvo  (p.  431),  lying  dead  in  battle-line,  and,  at  the  head,  the  commander,  Comte  de 
Fuentes,  hero  of  twenty  battles,  expiring  in  an  arm-chair  in  which,  on  account  of 
his  feebleness,  he  had  been  borne  to  the  front.  "  Were  I  not  victor,"  said  the  young 
Duke  d'Enghein  (Conde),  "  I  should  wish  tbxiB  to  die." 


1659.J 


FRANCE  — THE    AGE    OF    LOUIS    XlV. 


489 


the  war  *  until,  by  the  Peace  of  the  Pyrenees  (1659),  she 
yielded  Artois  and  Roussillon  to  Louis.  From  this  time, 
France  held  that  place  among  European  nations  which  Spain 
had  so  long  occupied.     Upon  the  death  of  Mazarin  (1661), 

Louis  assumed  the  Government.  —  Henceforth,  for 
over  half  a  century,  he  was  sole  master  in  France.  He 
became  his  own  prime-minister,  and,  though  only  twenty- 
three  years  old,  by  his  dili- 
gence, soon  acquired  the  de- 
tails of  public  affairs.  He 
selected  his  assistants  with 
rare  wisdom.  Colbert — the 
new  finance-minister  —  was 
another  Sully,  by  economy 
and  system  increasing  the 
revenues,  while  he  encour- 
aged agriculture,  manufac- 
tures, and  commerce.  Lou- 
vois — the  war-minister — or- 
ganized and  equipped  the 
army,  making  it  the  terror  of 
Europe.  Never  had  France 
been  so  powerful.  One  hun-- 
dred  fortresses,  monuments 
of  the  skill  of  Vauban — the 
greatest  engineer  of  his  day, 
covered    the    frontier:     one 


*  The  cost  of  this  war  and  the  luxury  of  the  court  made  the  taxes  very  onerous. 
Finally,  parliament  refused  to  register  the  tariff,  and  an  Insurrection  brolvc  out  in 
which  the  burghers  of  Paris  and  many  of  the  nobles  joined.  This  revolt  is  known  as 
the  Fkonde  ;  and  the  actors,  Frondeitks— since  the  gamins  of  Paris,  with  their 
slings,  were  foremost  in  the  oribreak.  The  struggle  was  a  burlesque  upon  civil  war. 
Fun  ran  rampant.  Everything  was  a  Fronde  ;  and  a  sling,  the  universal  fashion. 
The  leaders  on  each  side  were  the  most  fascinating  women  of  France.  In  the  end, 
the  Fronde  was  subdued.    It  was  the  last  struggle  of  the  nobles  against  despotism. 


490  THE     SEVENTEENTH    CENTUKY.  [1685. 

hundred  ships  of  the  line  lay  in  the  magnificent  harbors  of 
Toulon,  Brest,  and  Havre ;  and  an  army  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  men,  under  Turenne,  Oonde,  and  Luxemburg, 
was  ready  to  take  the  field  at  the  word.  The  French  people, 
weary  of  strife,  willingly  surrendered  their  political  rights 
to  this  autocrat,  who  secured  to  them  prosperity  at  home 
and  dignity  abroad. 

The  Persecution  of  the  Huguenots  sadly  marred  the 
glory  of  this  brilliant  reign.  By  the  advice  of  the  cold  and 
selfish  Louvois  and  Madame  de  Maintenon — whom  he  finally 
married  after  the  death  of  Maria  Theresa — the  edict  of  Nantes 
was  revoked  (1685).  The  Protestant  schools  were  closed ;  the 
Huguenot  ministers  expelled;  and  squadrons  of  brutal  cav- 
alry quartered  upon  the  suspected.  Many  citizens  were 
imprisoned,  executed,  or  sent  to  the  galleys.  Two  hundred 
thousand  of  the  best  artisans  were  driven  to  foreign  lands, 
whither  they  carried  arts  and  industries  before  that  known 
only  to  France. 

Four  Great  Wars  were  waged  by  Louis  to  gratify  his 
ambition,  and  extend  the  power  of  France.    These  were : 

1.  War  of  Flanders  (1667-8) ;  ended  by  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

2.  War  with  Holland,  and  First  Coalition  (1672-79) ;  closed  by  Treaty 
of  Nimeguen. 

3.  War  of  the  Palatinate ;  Second  Coalition  (1688-'97);  concluded  by 
Peace  of  Ryswick. 

4.  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  (1701-14) ;  terminated  by  Treaties 
of  Utrecht  and  Rastadt. 

1.  War  of  Flanders. — On  the  death  of  his  father-in-law, 
Philip  IV.  of  Spain,  Louis,  in  the  name  of  Maria  Theresa, 
invaded  Flanders.  But,  in  the  midst  of  a  triumphant  pro- 
gress, he  was  checked  by  the  "  Trijjle  Alliance ''  of  England, 
Holland,  and  Sweden,  and  forced  to  make  the  Treaty  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  giving  up  most  of  his  conquests. 


1672.] 


FRANCE — THE    AGE    OF    LOUIS    XIV. 


491 


2.  War  with  Holland. —horns  \\ as  eager  to  revenge  himself 
upon  the  little  republic  that  had  so  long  been  the  ally  of 
France,  but  now  defended  its  old  oppressor,  Spain.  So,  hav- 
ing bribed  England  and  Sweden  to  desert  the  alliance,  he 
poured  his  troops  in- 
to Holland.  With 
him  were  Conde,  Tu- 
renne,  Luxemburg, 
Louvois,  and  Vau- 
ban.  x\rmed  with 
the  bayonet,  then  a 
new  and  terrible 
weapon,  they  swept 
all  before  them  until 
within  sight  of  Am- 
sterdam. But  once 
again  the  courage  of 
the  Dutch  rose  high 
as  in  the  days  of  the 
Sea  Beggars.*  "Bet- 
ter," said  they,  "let 

the  sea  drown  our  farms,  than  the  French  destroy  our  liber- 
ties." The  sluices  were  opened,  and  the  German  Ocean,  rush- 
ing in,  saved  the  capital.  William,  prince  of  Orange, f  chosen 
stadtholder  in  this  emergency,  aroused  all  Europe  with  dread 
of  Louis's  ambition.  Soon,  the  First  Coalition  of  the  Empire, 
Spain,  and  Brandenburg  (now  Prussia)  was  formed  against 
France.  Louis,  however,  made  head  against  all  these  foes 
until,  Europe  longing  for  peace,  he  granted  the  Treaty  of 


*  The  Dntcb  even  proposed,  in  case  of  reverse,  to  embark  on  their  fleet,  like  the 
Athenians  (p.  132),  to  abandon  their  country  to  this  modem  Xerxes,  sail  to  their  East 
Indian  possessions,  and  found  a  new  republic  beyond  the  sea. 

t  The  great-grandson  of  the  Liberator  of  the  Netherlands  (p.  446),  and,  afterward, 
William  III.  of  England  (p.  611). 


492  THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY.  [1679. 

Nimeguen.  This  gave  to  France,  Franche  Comt6,  and  sev- 
eral fortresses  and  towns  in  Flanders.  Louis  now  considered 
himself  the  arbiter  of  Europe.  He  seized  S trash urg  in  a  time 
of  profound  peace;  captured  the  fortress  of  Luxemburg; 
bombarded  Algiers;  humiliated  Genoa,  forcing  the  Doge  to 
come  to  Paris  and  beg  for  mercy ;  wrested  Avignon  from  the 
pope ;  and,  basest  of  all,  secretly  encouraged  the  Turks  to 
invade  Austria.* 

3.  The  War  of  the  Second  Coalition  f  was  begun  by  its  most 
memorable  event — Turenne's  devastation,  of  the  Palatinate. 
Here  the  French  army,  unable  to  hold  its  conquests,  destroyed 
over  forty  cities  and  villages.  Houses  were  blown  up ;  vine- 
yards and  orchards  cut  down.  Palaces,  churches,  and  uni- 
versities shared  a  common  fate.  Even  the  cemeteries  were 
profaned,  and  the  ashes  of  the  dead  scattered  to  the  wind. 
A  cry  of  execration  went  up  from  the  civilized  world. 
William,  prince  of  Orange,  then  king  of  England  (p.  511), 
became  the  leader  of  the  ^'  Grand  Alliance,"  to  set  bounds  to 
Louis's  power. 

At  first,  Louis  was  triumphant.  Luxemburg  J — the  suc- 
cessor of  Turenne  and  Oonde — conquered  the  allies  under 
William,  at  Fleurus,  Steinhirlc,  and  Neerwinden.  But  Wil- 
liam was  greatest  in  defeat,  and  his  stubborn  valor  held  the 
French  in  check.  Ere  long,  misfortunes  gathered  thickly 
about  the  Grand  Monarch.  Colbert,  Louvois,  and  Luxem- 
burg died.     Louis  was  finally  forced  to  sign  the  Treaty  of 

*  Vienna  would  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Infidel  if  it  had  not  been  for  John 
Sobieski,  king  of  Poland,  who  routed  the  Turks  under  the  walls  of  the  city  as  Charles 
the  Hammer  put  to  flight  the  Saracen  on  the  plains  of  Tours  nearly  ten  centuries 
before. 

t  This  war  extended  to  North  America  and  is  known  in  our  history  as  King  Wil- 
liam's War  (Hist.  U.  S.,  p.  77). 

X  Luxemburg  was  styled  the  upholsterer  of  Notre  Dame,  from  the  number  of  cap- 
tured flags  he  sent  to  be  hung  as  trophies  in  that  cathedral.  "  Would  to  God,"  said 
he,  on  his  death-bod,  "that  I  could  offier  Him,  instead  of  so  many  useless  laurels, the 
merit  of  a  cup  of  water  given  to  tbe-poor  in  His  name." 


1697.]         FRANCE  —  THE    AGE    OF    LOf  IS    XIV.  40;J 

Ryswick,  recognizing  William  as  lawful  sovereign  of  Eng- 
land, and  surrendering  most  of  his  conquests,  but  retaining 
Strasburg,  which  Vauban's  art  had  made  the  key  of  the 
Rhine. 

•i.  The  Wa7'  of  the  Spanish  Succession  *  began  the  18th 
century.  Charles  11.  of  Spain  willed  his  crown  to  Philip  of 
Anjou — son  of  the  Dauphin ;  Louis  supported  his  grandson's 
claim.  The  emperor  Leopold  f  was  as  nearly  related  to  the 
Spanish  family  as  was  Louis,  so  he  asserted  the  right  of  his 
second  son,  the  Archduke  Charles.  The  union  of  France 
and  Spain  under  the  House  of  Bourbon  endangering  the 
Balance  of  Power,  a  Third  Coalition  was  formed.  William, 
the  soul  of  this  league  also,  died  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 
But  his  place  in  the  field  was  more  than  filled  by  the  brilliant 
Duke  of  Marlborough,  and  by  Prince  Eugene,  who  commanded 
the  imperial  forces.];  The  former  won  the  famous  victories 
of  Blenheim,  EamilUes,  Oudenarde,  and  Malplaquet ;  the 
latter  drove  the  French  headlong  out  of  Italy,  and  threat- 
ened France.  The  long  wars  had  exhausted  the  people; 
famine  and  disease  ran  riot  through  the  land  ;  and  Louis 
humiliated  himself  in  vain,  begging  the  allies  for  peace. 

In  the  midst  of  disaster,  however,  he  achieved  his  end  by 
two  unlooked-for  ev^ents.  The  archduke  became  emperor, 
and  the  allies  were  as  unwilling  that  Spain  should  be  united 
to  Austria  as  to  France;  in  England,  the  Tories  came  into 
power,  and  recalled  the  dreaded  Marlborough.  The  terrible 
struggle  was  ended  by  the  Treaties  of  Utrecht  and  Rastadt. 
Philip  was  acknowledged  king  of  Spain ;  the  Spanish  posses- 

*  This  struggle  also  involved  the  American  colonies,  and  is  known  in  our  history 
as  Queen  Anne's  War  (ffist.  U.  S.,  p.  79). 

t  Known  in  history  as  the  ''  Little  man  with  the  red  stockings." 
X  Eugene  was  bred  in  Prance,  and  offered  his  sword  to  Couis,  but  was  contemptu- 
ously rejected.  Having  called  the  Grand  Monarch  "  a  stage-king  for  show  and  a  chess- 
king  for  use,"  he  had  grievously  oflFended  the  king,  and  now,  having  entered  the 
emperor's  service,  he  became  the  bitterest  enemy  of  Prance. 


494  THE     SEVENTEENTH     OENTtJEY.  [1714 

sions  in  Italy  and  the  Netherlands  were  ceded  to  the  emperor 
Charles  VI.;  Newfoundland,  Acadia,  and  Gibraltar — the  key 
of  the  Mediterranean — were  given  to  England. 

Death  of  Louis.— The  Grand  Monarch  had  carried  out 
his  plan,  but  he  had  impoverished  France, '  mortgaged  her 
revenues  for  years  in  advance,  and  destroyed  her  industries. 
Worn  and  disappointed,  he  closed  his  long  reign  of  seventy- 
two  years,  having  outlived  his  good  fortune,  and  sacrificed 
his  country  to  his  false  ideas  of  glory. 

III.    ENGLAND    UNDER    THE    STUARTS    (1603-1714). 

The  Stuart  Rule  covered  the  17tb  century.  It  was  the 
era  of  the  English  constitutional  struggle.  Tlie  characteristic 
feature  was  the  conflict  between  the  kings  bent  upon  abso- 
lute power,  and  the  Parliament  contending  for  the  rights  of 
the  people. 

'    TABLE   OF   THE   STUART   LINE.     (See  Tudor  Table,  p.  455.) 
James  I.,  eon  ofTtfary  Queen  of  Scots  (1603-'25). 


Chables  I.  (1625-'49).  j 

I Elizabeth,  m.  Elector- 

I  I  I  Palatine. 

Charles  IL  (1660-'85).       James  U.  (.168&-'89).  Sophia,  m.  ELECTfm^^or^^^ 

I ! Geobob  I.  (1714). 

Mart  H.  (1689  -'94) .       Anne  (1705J-'  14). 

James  I.  (1603-'25)o  Obstinate,  conceited,  pedantic, 
weak,  mean-looking  in  person,  ungainly  in  manners,  slovenly 
in  dress,  led  by  unworthy  favorites,  given  to  wine,  and  so 
timorous  as  to  shudder  at  a  drawn  sword, — the  first  Stuart 
king  had  few  qualities  of  a  ruler.*    In  strange  contrast  with 

*  Macaulay  says  that  "James  was  made  up  of  two  men — a  witty,  well-read  scholar, 
who  wrote,  disputed,  and  harauo^ued  ;  and  a  nervous,  drivelling  Idiot,  who  acted." 
Sully  styled  him  '•  The  wisest  fool  in  Europe."  He  was  the  author  of  several  books, 
notably  of  one  against  the  use  of  tobacco,  and,  under  his  patronage,  the  translation  of 
the  Bible  still  in  general  use  was  made  by  a  commissiou  of  scholars. 


>^  PELOPON^ESUS^'i-'^        «^    '^.       «'• 


496 


THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTUKY 


his  undignified  appearance,  were  liis  royal  pretensions.  He 
believed  in  the  "divine  right"  of  the  king,  and  in  the  "pas- 
sive obedience"  of  the  subject.  While  the  Tudors  had  the 
tact  to  become  absolute  by  making  themselves  the  exponents 
of  the  national  will,  James  ostentatiously  opposed  his  per- 
sonal policy  to  the  popular  desire. 


FAWKES    AND     HIS    COMPANIONS. 
(From  a  Print  of  the  Time.) 


Gunpowder  Plot. — The  Catholics  naturally  expected  tol- 
eration from  Mary's  son,  but,  being  persecuted  more  bitterly 
than  ever,  a  few  desperate  ones  resolved  to  blow  up  Parlia- 
ment on  the  day  of  its  opening  by  the  king  (1605).  They 
accordingly  hired  a  cellar  under  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
where  they  hid  thirty-six  barrels  of  gunpowder  beneath  fag- 
ots of  firewood.  At  the  last  moment,  a  conspirator  sent  a 
note  to  a  relation,  warning  him  to  keep  away  from  Parlia- 
ment. The  letter  was  shown  to  the  king,  search  made,  and 
Guy  Fawkes  found  waiting  with  lantern  and  slow  match  to 


1605.J        EI^GLAND     UKDER     THE     STUARTS.  497 

fire  the  train.  This  horrible  plot  bore  bitter  fruit,  and 
stringent  laws  were  passed  against  the  ^^ recusants/'  i.e.^ 
those  who  refused  to  attend  church. 

ParHament  mid  the  king  were  in  conflict  throughout  this 
reign — the  former  contending  for  more  liberty  ;  the  latter,  for 
more  power.  James  would  have  gladly  done  without  Parlia- 
ment altogether,  but  he  had  constantly  to  go  begging  for 
money  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and  that  body  adopted  the 
principle,  now  one  of  the  corner-stones  of  the  British  constitu- 
tion, that  '*  A  redress  of  grievances  must  precede  a  granting 
01  supplies."  Resolved  not  to  yield,  the  king  dissolved  Par- 
liament after  Parliament,  and  sought  to  raise  a  revenue  by 
reviving  various  feudal  customs.  He  extorted  benevolences, 
sold  titles  of  nobility,  and  increased  monopolies  until  the 
entire  trade  of  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of  al)out  two 
hundred  persons.  But  these  makeshifts  availed  him  little, 
and,  step  by  step.  Parliament  gained  ground.  Before  the  end 
of  his  reign,  it  had  suppressed  the  odious  monopolies,  reformed 
the  law  courts,  removed  obnoxious  royal  favorites,  impeached 
at  its  bar  the  highest  officers  of  the  crown,  made  good  its 
claim  to  exclusive  control  of  taxation,  and  asserted  its  right 
to  discuss  any  question  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the 
realm. 

James's  foreign  policy  was,  if  possible,  more  unpopular 
in  England  than  his  domestic.  He  undid  the  work  of  Eliza- 
beth, and  the  fruit  of  the  triumph  over  the  Armada  ;  culti- 
vated the  friendship  of  Spain;  and,  during  the  Thirty- 
Years  War,  refused  any  efficient  aid  to  his  son-in-law,  the 
Elector  Palatine,  though  the  nation  clamored  to  join  in  the 
struggle.  England  now  ceased  to  be  the  leading  Protestant 
power  in  Europe. 

Charles  I.  (1625-49),  unlike  his  father  James,  was 
refined  in  taste  and  dignified  in  manner,  but  his  idea§  of  the 


498 


THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTUBT. 


[1626. 


royal  prerogative 
were  even  more 
exalted.  He  made 
promises  only  to 
break  them,  and 
the  nation  soon 
learned  to  doubt 
the  royal  word. 
His  wife,  Henriet- 
ta Maria,  daughter 
of  Henry  IV.  of 
France,  favored 
absolutism  after 
the  French  mod- 
el, and  hated  the 
Puritans,  who  were 
jealous  of  her  as  a 
Catholic.  Buck- 
ingham, who  had  been  James's  favorite,  was  the  king's  chief 
adviser.  Wife  and  favorite  both  urged  Charles  on  in  the 
fatal  course  to  which  his  own  inclinations  tended.  The 
history  of  his  reign  is  that  of  one  long  \ 

Struggle  hetimen  Parliament  and  King, — The  Parliament 
of  1628  wrested  from  Charles  the  famous  Petition  of  Right 
— the  second  great  charter  of  English  liberty.  It  forbade  the 
king  to  levy  taxes  without  the  consent  of  Parliament,  to 
imprison  a  subject  without  trial,  or  to  billet  soldiers  in  pri- 
vate houses.  Charles,  however,  as  usual,  disregarded  his 
promise,  and  then  for  eleven  years  ruled  like  an  autocrat. 

During  this  period,  no  Parliament  was  convoked — an 
instance  unparalleled  in  English  history.  Buckingham  hav- 
ing been  assassinated  by  a  Puritan  fanatic,  the  Earl  of  Straf- 
ford and  Archbishop  Laud  became  the  royal  advisers.  The 
loi'm^r  Qontrived  a  cruel  plan  known  as  "Thorough,"  by 


CHARLES    I.    AND    HIS    ARMOR-BEARER. 
(From  a  Painting  by  Vandyck.) 


1639-1640.]      ENGLAND    UNDER    THE    STUARTS.        499 

which  he  meant  to  make  the  king  absolute.  In  Ireland, 
where  the  scheme  was  tried,  Irish  and  English  alike  crouched 
in  terror  under  his  iron  rule.  Laud  was  resolved  to  crush 
the  Puritans,  and  restore  to  the  church  many  of  its  ancient 
usages.  All  who  differed  from  him  were  tried  in  the  High 
Commission  Court;  while  the  Star  Chamber*  Court  fined, 
whipped  and  imprisoned  those  speaking  ill  of  the  king's 
policy,  or  refusing  to  pay  the  money  he  illegally  demanded. 
The  Puritans,  persecuted  on  every  hand,  found  their  only 
refuge  in  the  wilds  of  America,  and,  in  a  single  year,  three 
thousand  joined  their  brethren  in  New  England. 

No  tax  awakened  more  feeling  than  the  imposition  of  ship- 
money  upon  inland  towns  in  time  of  peace.  At  last,  the 
opposition  found  a  voice  in  John  Hampden.  He  resisted  the 
levy  of  twenty  shillings  upon  his  property,  and,  though 
beaten  in  the  royal  court,  became  the  people's  hero. 

In  Scotland,  also,  Charles  carried  matters  with  a  high 
hand.  Laud  daringly  attempted  to  abolish  Presbyterianism, 
and  introduce  a  liturgy.  Thereupon,  the  indignant  Scotch 
rose  en  masse,  and  signed,  some  of  them  with  their  own 
blood,  a  covenant  binding  themselves  to  resist  every  innova- 
tion on  their  religious  rights.  Finally,  an  army  of  Scots 
crowed  the  border,  and  Charles  was  forced  to  assemble  the 
celebrated 

''Long  Parliament'''  (1640),  so-called  because  it  lasted 
twenty  years.  The  old  contest  was  renewed.  Strafford  and. 
afterward.  Laud  were  brought  to  the  block ;  the  Star-Cham- 
ber  and  High  Commission  Courts  were  abolished;  and  Par- 
liament voted  that  it  could  not  be  adjourned  without  its 
own  consent.      At  last,  Charles,  in  desperation,  rashly  at- 

*  This  court  was  so  called  because  it  met  in  a  chamber  at  Westminster  whose 
ceiling  was  decorated  with  gilt  stars.  "  A  London  citizen  was  severely  punished  by- 
one  of  the  royal  courts  for  terming  the  crest  of  a  nobleman  upon  the  buttons  of  hi? 
Jiyery-servant  a  goose,  instead  of  a  swan," 


500 


THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY. 


[1642. 


CROMWELL    DISSOLVING    THE    LONG    PARLIAMENT. 

tempted,  with  a  body  of  armed  men,  to  arrest  in  the  House 
itself  five  of  the  patriot  leaders,  among  them  Hampden  and 
Pym.  They  took  refuge  in  the  city,  whence,  seven  days  later, 
they  were  brought  back  to  the  House  of  Commons  in  triumph, 
escorted  by  the  London  train  bands,  amid  the  roar  of  can- 
non and  the  shouts  of  the  people. 

Civil  War  (1642-48)  was  now  inevitable.  Charles  has- 
tened northward  and  unfurled  the  royal  banner.  The  Puri- 
tans, together  with  London  and  the  cities  generally,  sup- 
ported' Parliament ;  the  clergy,  the  nobles,  and  the  gay 
young  men,  who  disliked  the  Puritan  strictness,  favored  the 
king.*     Eupert,  Charles's  nephew  and  son  of  the  Winter 


*  The  royalists  were  called  Cavaliers,  from  their  skill  in  riding ;  and  the  parlia- 
mentarians, Roundheads,  from  the  Puritan  fashion  of  wearing  closely-cut  hair.  In 
later  times,  the  same  parties  were  styled  Tories  and  Whigs,  and  at  the  present  day  are 
known,  with  little  change,  as  Conservatives  and  Radicals. 


1644.]  ENGLAKD     U  i^  D  E  R     THE     STUAETS.  501 

King  (p.  480),  was  a  dashing  cavalry-officer,  and,  on  field 
after  field,  swept  everything  before  him.  The  plough-boys, 
apprentice-lads,  and  shop-keepers,  who  made  up  the  parlia- 
mentary army,  were  no  match  for  the  English  chivalry.  But 
a  new  man  came  to  the  front  at 

Marston  Moor  (1644). — Oliver  Cromwell,  with  his  Iron- 
sides— a  regiment  of  Puritan  dragoons  selected  and  trained 
after  a  plan  of  his  own  * — here  drove  Rupert's  cavaUers 
pell-mell  from  the  field. 

T/ie  Lidependents. — The  Puritan  party  had  now  become 
strong ;  but  it  was  divided  into  Presbyterians  and  Independ- 
ents. The  Presbyterians,  constituting  the  majority  of  Par- 
liament, desired  religious  conformity  and  to  limit  the  royal 
authority ;  the  Independents  wished  religious  toleration 
and  to  found  a  republic.  Cromwell  was  the  chief  of  the 
latter  faction,  which  now  took  the  lead.  Under  its  auspices, 
the  army  known  as  the  ^'  New  Model "  was  organized.  It 
was  composed  of  earnest.  God-fearing  men,  who  fought,  not 
for  pay  but  for  liberty  of  conscience.  Perfect  discipline  was 
combined  with  enthusiastic  religious  fervor.  Profanity  and 
drunkenness  were  unknown.  Officers  and  men  spent  their 
leisure  in  prayer  and  Bible-reading,  and  went  into  battle 
singing  psalms  and  hymns.  The  New  Model  fought  with 
the  royal  forces  at 

Nasely  (1645)  the  decisive  contest  of  the  war.  The  Round- 
head left  wing  yielded  to  the  fury  of  Rupert's  Cavaliers,  who 
pursued  the  fugitives  in  hot  haste.  Meanwhile,  Cromwell 
routed  the  royalist  left  wing,  then  turned  back,  and,  attack- 
ing in  flank  the  center,  where  Charles  commanded,  swept  the 
field.  Rupert  returned  from  his  mad  pursuit,  only  to  find 
the  battle  over  and  the  royal  cause  irrevocably  lost. 

*  In  the  evening  after  Ed<;ehill,  the  first  battle  of  this  war,  Oliver  said  to  his  cousin, 
John  Hampden,  "  It  is  plain  that  men  of  religion  are  wanted  to  withstand  these  gen- 
tlemen of  honor," 


502 


THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY. 


[1645. 


The  King's  Fate. — Charles 
fled  to  the  Scots,  who  gave 
him  up  to  the  Parliament ; 
but  the  army  soon  got  him 
into  its  possession.  Negotia- 
tions ensued,  during  which 


EXECUTION    OF    CHARLES 


% 


the  king  sought  to  play  off  the  Independents  against  the  Pres- 
byterians, until  his  insincerity  became  evident  to  all.  The 
army,  then  the  master,  had  no  confidence  in  the  king,  and 
even  Cromwell  and  his  son-in-law  Ireton,  who  struggled  long 
to  mediate  upon  the  basis  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  were 
forced  to  yield.  A  body  of  soldiers  under  Colonel  Pride 
surrounded  the  House  of  Commons,  and  shut  out  the  Pres- 
byterian members.  Thus  reduced,  by  what  is  known  as 
''Pride's  Purge,"  to  about  eighty  Independents,  the  House 


1649.]        ENGLAND     UNDER     THE     STUARTS.  503 

appointed  a  commission  to  try  the  king  on  a  charge  of  treason. 
Condemned  to  death,  Charles  met  his  fate  with  a  dignity  that 
went  far  to  atone  for  the  follies  and  errors  of  his  life.* 

The  Commonwealth  (1649-'60). — England  was  now  to 
be  governed  without  king  or  lords.  Authority  was  vested  in 
the  diminished  House  of  Commons,  contemptuously  styled 
the  "  Eump."  The  real  ruler,  however,  was  Cromwell,  who, 
with  his  terrible  army,  silenced  all  opposition. 

In  Ireland  and  Scotland,  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  pro- 
claimed as  Charles  II.  Thereupon,  Cromwell's  merciless 
Ironsides  conquered  Ireland  as  it  never  had  been  before ; 
then,  crossing  into  Scotland,  they  routed  the  Covenanters 
at  Dunbar,  and  again,  on  the  anniversary  of  that  victory,  at 
Worcester.] 

War  also  broke  out  with  Holland  for  the  empire  of  the 
sea.  The  Dutch  were  at  first  successful,  and  Van  Tromp 
sailed  up  the  channel  with  a  broom  tied  at  his  masthead,  to 
show  that  he  meant  to  sweep  the  English  from  the  ocean. 

*  He  nothing  common  did  or  mean 
Upon  that  memorable  scene  ; 
But  with  his  keener  eye 
The  axe's  edge  did  try  ; 
Nor  called  the  gods  with  vulgar  spite 
To  vindicate  his  helpless  right ; 
But  how'd  his  comely  head 
Down,  as  upon  a  he&.—MarveU. 
When  the  executioner  lifted  the  severed  head  from  the  block,  a  groan  of  pity  burst 
from  the  horror-stricken  multitude.    Yet  even  in  the  shadow  of  the  scaffold,  Charles 
asserted  his  continued  belief  that  "  a  share  in  government "  is  "  nothing  pertaining  " 
to  the  people. 

t  Charles  H.,  as  the  price  of  the  Scottish  support,  had  signed  the  Covenant,  and 
declared  himself  afllicted  at  the  thought  of  his  father's  tyranny  and  his  mother's  idol- 
atry. He  had,  however,  no  real  hold  upon  Scotland,  and  after  the  battle  of  Worcester 
became  a  fugitive.  The  story  of  his  escape  to  the  continent  is  full  of  romantic  adven- 
tures. At  one  time,  he  took  refuge  in  the  spreading  branches  of  an  oak-tree  whence 
he  could  see  the  red-coats  scouring  the  country  in  pursuit ;  at  another,  he  was  dis- 
guised as  a  groom  to  a  lady  who  rode  behind  him  on  a  pillion  as  was  then  the  cus- 
tom. Though  over  forty  persons  knew  his  secret,  and  Parliament  had  offered  a 
reward  of  one  thousand  pounds  for  his  capture,  all  were  faithful  to  their  trust,  and 
the  prince  finally  reached  a  cojlier  at  the  seaside,  and  was  carried  across  to  Nor- 
mandy. 


504  THE     SEVEIS'TEENTH    GEi^TUEY.  [1654. 

But  the  British  fleet  under  the  gallant  Blake  finally  forced 
Holland  to  a  treaty  agreeing  that,  when  ships  of  the  two 
nations  met,  the  Dutch  vessel  should  salute  by  striking  its 
flag. 

Cromwell  and  Parliament. — The  Eump  did  not  govern 
satisfactorily,  and  so  Cromwell  with  a  file  of  soldiers  drove 
the  members  from  the  hall,  and  put  the  keys  in  his  pocket 
(1653).  He  then  called  an  assembly  of  his  own  selection. 
It  was  known  as  "  Praise-God  Barebone's  Parliament,"  from 
the  quaint  name  of  one  of  its  members.  This  body  soon 
resigned  its  power  into  Cromwell's  hands,  havhig  given  him 
the  title  of  Lord  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth. 

The  Protectorate. — Cromwell  desired  to  rule  constitution- 
ally by  means  of  a  Parliament;  but  the  Houses  of  Com- 
mons which  he  assembled  proved  troublesome,  and  were 
dissolved.  So  he  governed  as  a  military  despot.  He  had 
the  power  of  a  king,  but,  like  Caesar,  dared  not  take  the 
title.  Under  his  vigorous  administration,  the  glory  of  Eng- 
land, dimmed  by  the  policy  of  the  Stuarts,  shone  even 
brighter  than  under  Elizabeth.  The  Barbary  pirates  were 
chastised ;  Jamaica  was  captured ;  and  Dunkirk  was  received 
from  France  in  return  for  help  against  Spain.  Everywhere 
protecting  the  Protestants,  Cromwell  forced  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  to  cease  persecuting  the  Vaudois ;  and  he  dreamed  of 
making  England  the  head  of  a  great  Protestant  league.  In 
spite,  however,  of  his  genius  and  strength,  of  renown  abroad, 
and  prosperity  at  home, 

CromweWs  last  days  were  full  of  gloom.  He  had  kept  the 
hearts  of  his  soldiers,  but  had  broken  with  almost  every  other 
class  of  his  countrymen.  The  people  were  weary  of  the  Puri- 
tan strictness  that  rebuked  so  many  of  their  innocent  amuse- 
ments ;  weary  of  the  rule  of  a  soldier ;  above  all,  perhaps, 
weary  of  a  republic.     Factional  strife  grew  hot,  and  republi- 


1658.] 


ENGLAND     Ui^DER     THE     STUARTS. 


505 


can  and  royalist  alike  plotted  against  their  new  tyrant.  In 
constant  dread  of  assassination,  Cromwell  wore  a  coat  of 
mail,  and,  it  is  said,  slept  in  a  different  room  every  night. 
The  death  of  a  favorite  daughter  greatly  afflicted  him.  He 
died  shortly  afterward,  in  the  midst  of  a  fearful  tempest, 
on  his  "  Fortunate  Day " — the  anniversary  of  Dunbar  and 
Worcester.     His  last  words  were,  "My  work  is  done." 


MEDAL    OF    OLIVER    CROMWELL. 


With  liim,  Puritanism,  too,  had  apparently  done  its  work.  It  seemed 
to  sink  out  of  sight  beneath  the  tide  of  royalty  that  swelled  high  during 
the  ensuing  reign  ;  but  the  careful  reader  of  history  will  see  that  its  best 
survived,  and  tliat  it  bequeathed  to  England,  as  well  as  to  our  own  New 
England,  its  earnestness,  its  fidelity,  its  firmness,  its  devotion  to  the 
right,  and  its  love  of  liberty. 

The  Friends ,  or  Quakers,  arose  at  this  time  through  the 
teachings  of  George  Fox.  He  denounced  war,  asserted  the 
brotherhood  of  all  men,  declined  to  take  an  oath  in  court, 
used  the  second  person  singular  in  addressing  others,  and 
refused  to  uncover  his  head  in  any  presence.  His  followers 
were  persecuted,  but  their  zeal,  patience,  and  purity  of  life 
gained  the  admiration  even  of  their  enemies.  The  number 
of  Friends  increased  rapidly,  and,  upon  the  founding  of 
Pennsylvania,  many  emigrated  to  the  New  World. 


506  THE     SEVENTEEKTH     CEKTURY.  [1658. 

Richard  Crom-well  succeeded  his  father  in  the  protec- 
torate, but  he  was  only  a  good-natured,  easy  soul,  with  no 
idea  how  to  govern,  and  soon  retired  to  private  life.  The 
army  was  all-powerful,  and  it  seemed  at  one  time  as  if  the 
scenes  at  Rome  when  soldiers  set  up  the  crown  at  auction, 
might  be  renewed  in  England.  At  this  juncture.  General 
Monk,  who  commanded  in  Scotland,  marched  to  London, 
and,  under  his  protection,  the  old  Long  Parliament  met, 
issued  writs  for  a  new  election,  and  iSnally  dissolved  itself 
(1660).  A  new  Parliament  was  assembled.  Charles  IL  was 
invited  to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors. 

The  Restoration.— Charles  II.  (1660-85)  was  welcomed 
with  a  tumult  of  joy.  No  conditions  were  imposed;  the  year 
of  his  accession  was  styled,  not  i\\Q  first,  but  the  twelfth  of 
his  reign,  and  the  restored  Stuart  was  made  as  absolute  as 
any  Tudor.* 

The  Reaction. — From  Puritan  austerity,  which  forbade  not 
only  theatrical  representations  but  even  Christmas  festivities 
and  the  dance  about  the  May-pole  on  the  village  green,  the 
people  now  rushed  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  revelry  and 
frivolity.  Giddiest  of  all  was  the  Merry  Monarch.  King 
and  court  alike  made  light  of  honor  and  virtue.  In  the 
plays  then  acted  upon  the  stage,  ridicule  was  poured  upon  the 
holiest  ties  and  the  most  sacred  principles. 

England  was  in  a  very  delirium  of  royalty.  The  es- 
tablished church  was  restored,  and  two  thousand  ministers 
were  expelled  from  their  pulpits  as  Nonconformists.  To 
attend  a  dissenting  place  of  worship,  became  a  crime  for 
which  men  were  whipped,  imprisoned,  and  transported. 

*  The  dreaded  Puritan  army  of  50,000  men  now  quietly  went  back  to  their  shops 
and  fields.  Everywhere  the  gallant  soldiers  prospered.  Not  one  of  them  begged  for 
alms  or  was  charged  with  crime.  So  it  came  about  that,  "  If  a  baker,  a  mason,  a 
wagoner,  attracted  attention  by  his  diligence  and  sobriety,  he  was,  in  all  probability, 
one  of  Oliver's  old  followers."  History  knows  only  one  other  such  event.  That 
was  at  the  close  of  our  own  Civil  War  (Hist.  U.  S.,  p.  281). 


1665.]  Eiq"GLAXD     UNDER     THE     STUARTS.  507 

In  Scotland,  the  people  generally*  submitted  to  the  new 
order  of  things,  but  along  the  western  lowlands  the  stern  old 
Covenanters,  sword  and  Bible  in  hand,  continued  to  meet 
their  former  pastors  upon  lonely  moor  and  mountain,  and, 
though  hunted  like  wild  beasts  and  tortured  by  thumb-screw 
and  iron-boot,  still  insisted  upon  their  right  to  worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences. 

The  Plague  broke  out  in  London  in  1665.  The  shops  were 
shut,  whole  blocks  stood  empty,  and  grass  grew  in  the  streets. 
Houses  in  which  the  pestilence  raged  were  marked  with  a 
red  cross,  and  the  words,  "  Lord  have  mercy  upon  us."  All 
night  long  the  carts  rattled  through  the  streets,  with  a  tolling 
bell  and  the  burier's  disaial  cry,  "  Bring  out  your  dead." 
No  coffins  were  used ;  no  mourners  followed  their  friends ; 
and  deep  trenches  served  for  graves.  To  add  to  the  horror 
of  the  scene,  a  strange,  wild-looking  man  constantly  stalked 
up  and  down  the  deserted  city,  calling  out  ever  and  anon  in 
a  sepulchral  voice,  "  Oh,  the  great  and  dreadful  God ! " 
Before  the  plague  was  stayed,  one  hundred  thousand  per- 
sons had  perished  in  the  capital  alone,  and  large  numbers  in 
other  places. 

The  Great  Fire  of  London  broke  out  in  the  following 
year.  It  raged  for  three  days,  and  swept  from  the  Tower  to 
the  Temple.  Two  hundred  thousand  people  were  driven  to 
the  open  fields,  homeless  and  destitute.! 


*  The  change  that  had  taken  place  is  well  shown  by  a  single  instance.  When 
Archbishop  Land  sought  to  introduce  a  liturgy  into  Scotland,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
first  reading  of  prayers  in  Edinburgh,  one  Jenny  Geddes  inaugurated  civil  war  (1637) 
by  hurling  a  stool  at  the  Dean's  head.  Now  Jenny  cast  the  contents  of  her  stall  and 
basket  into  a  bonfire  in  honor  of  the  King's  coronation  and  the  subsequent  action 
of  Parliament. 

t  Singularly  enough,  the  fire  began  in  Pudding  Lane,  near  Fish  St.,  and  stopped  at 
Pie  Corner.  It  is  probable  that  some  association  of  these  names  led  to  an  inscription 
which  formerly  existed  under  a  very  fat,  human  figure,  still  to  be  seen  against  the 
wall  of  a  public  house  near  by :  "  This  boy  is  in  memory  put  up  of  the  late  fire  of 
London  occasioned  by  the  Bin  of  gluttony,  1666." 


50S  THE     SEVENTEEl^^TH     CEKTtJEY.  [1667. 

Dutch  War. — During  these  calamitous  years,  a  war  was 
going  on  with  Holland — England's  rival  in  commerce. 
Charles  squandered  upon  his  pleasures  the  money  Parliament 
voted  for  the  navy,  and  now  the  Dutch  fleet  sailed  up  the 
Thames,  and,  for  the  first  and  last  time,  the  roar  of  foreign 
guns  was  heard  in  London.  That  "  dreadful  sound  "  broke 
the  dream  of  royalty.  Bat  other  events  were  hastening  the 
ruin  of  Charles's  popularity,  as  well  as  bringing  Protestant 
England  into  alliance  with  Protestant  Holland. 

Charles  and  Louis  XIV. — At  this  time,  France,  under 
Louis  XIY.,  had  become  what  Spain  was  under  Phi- 
lip n.,  the  strongest  power  in  Europe  and  the  champion 
of  absolutism  and  Catholicism.  A  dread  of  France  had 
replaced  the  old  English  dislike  of  Spain.  Charles,  however, 
did  not  share  in  his  subjects' fear.  Even  when  his  people 
forced  him  to  join  the  Triple  Alliance,  he  was  privately  ne- 
gotiating with  his  cousin  Louis,  to  whom  he  had  already 
sold  Dunkirk— the  Gibraltar  of  that  day — in  order  to  fill  his 
always-empty  purse;  and,  though  Parliament  was  wild  to  aid 
William  of  Orange  in  his  gallant  struggle,  Charles  signed 
with  France  the  secret  Treaty  of  Dover  (1670),  agreeing  to 
establish  Catholicism  in  England,  and  to  help  Louis  in  his 
schemes  against  Holland,  while  Louis,  in  turn,  promised  his 
cousin  an  annual  pension,  and  the  assistance  of  the  French 
army  should  England  resist. 

Plots. — Some  inklings  of  this  treaty  had  been  whispered 
about,  when  the  English  people  were  driven  frantic  by  news 
of  a  so-called  *'  Popish  Plot "  to  massacre  the  Protestants, 
and  to  bring  over  French  troops.  One  Titus  Oates,  a  rene- 
gade Jesuit,  pretended  to  reveal  the  scheme,  and  his  per- 
jured testimony,  amid  the  heat  of  the  excitement,  cost  the 
lives  of  many  innocent  Catholics,  and  led  to  the  passage  of 
the  Test  Act,  excluding  Catholics  from  Parliament. 


1678.] 


ENGLAND     UNDEE     THE     STUAKTS. 


509 


James,  Duke  of 
York,  the  king's 
brother  and  heir 
to  the  crown,  was 
a  Catholic,  and 
personally  very 
UDpopnlar.*  The 
Whigs  t  resolved 
to  shut  him  out 
from  the  throne. 
They  even  planned 
an  insurrection, 
and  a  few  desper- 
ate ones  formed 
what  is  called  the 
Rye  House  Plot 
to  assassinate  the 
king  and  his  broth- 
er. The  discovery  of  this  plan  brought  to  the  block  Lord 
Russell  and  the  patriotic  and  upright  Algernon  Sidney.  J 

TJie  result  of  these  odious  plots  was  to  weaken  the  Whfgs, 
and  bring  the  Tories  to  the  front.  Charles  was  thus  able, 
for  the  last  four  years  of  his  reign,  to  rule  without  a  Parlia- 
ment, and  to  push  his  despotic  schemes.  He  regularly  drew 
his  pension  from  Louis  and  helped  him  as  he  could,  but, 
shrewd  and  intelligent  in  spite  of  his  idle  and  pleasure-lov- 

*  One  day  he  cautioned  his  brother  Charles  about  going  unattended,  but  received 
the  bitter  retort,  "  They  will  never  kill  me  to  make  you  king." 

t  This  name,  given  first  in  reproach,  meant  "  sour  milk,"  a  favorite  drink  of  the 
Covenanters.  The  Whigs,  in  general,  favored  the  rights  of  the  people.  They  were 
opposed  by  the  Tories,  a  name  originally  applied  to  the  outlaws  of  the  Irish  bogs, 
but  now  meaning  those  who  supported  the  court  and  the  royal  prerogative. 

X  Out  of  the  hot  discussions  of  this  period  came  the  famous  Habeas  Corpus  Act,& 
Latin  phrase  meaning,  '•  You  may  have  the  body."  This  law,  still  in  force,  requires 
a  judge  to  issue  a  writ  to  bring  a  prisoner  before  him,  whenever  demanded  for  trial. 
Prior  to  that,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  lay  in  prison  nineteen  years  uncondemned.  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  languished  in  a  r>jngeon  more  than  twelve  years. 


TITUS    GATES    IN    THE    PILLORY. 
(From  a  Print  of  the  Time.) 


510  THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY.         [1681-5. 

ing  nature,  he  never  attempted  to  overthrow  the  established 
religion  of  England.* 

James  II.  (1685-88)  came  to  the  throne  without  opposi- 
tion. He  soon  showed  that  he  had  but  one  aim — to  restore 
Catholicism.  To  accomplish  this  end,  he  resorted  to  illegal 
measures,  and  strained  the  royal  prerogative  to  the  utmost. 
At  this  time,  Louis  XIV.  had  just  revoked  the  edict  of 
Nantes,  and  the  persecuted  Huguenots  were  flocking  to  Eng- 
land. Yet  James  ventured  to  raise  a  large  and  threatening 
standing  army,  and,  though  forty-nine-fiftieths  of  the  Eng- 
lish were  Protestants,  to  flood  every  department  of  govern- 
ment with  his  Catholic  favorites.  In  vain,  the  pope  coun- 
selled moderation  and  the  Catholic  gentry  stood  aloof  The 
English  people  submitted,  however,  as  they  knew  that  the 
next  heir — ^James's  daughter  Mary,  wife  of  William  of 
Orange — was  a  Protestant.  But  the  birth  of  a  Prince  of 
Wales  t  destroyed  this  hope.  Thereupon,  both  Whigs  and 
Tories  united  in  inviting  William  to  come  to  the  defence 
of  the  liberties  of  England. 

The  "Revolution  of  1688." — William  was  welcomed 
almost  as  gladly  as  Charles  II.  had  been  twenty-eight  years 
before.  James,  deserted  by  all,  fled  to  France.  A  Conven- 
tion proclaimed  William  and  Mary  king  and  queen  of  Eng- 
land. They  agreed  to  a  Bill  of  Rights  that  guaranteed  all 
for  which  the  people  had  so  long  contended.     Thus  was  the 

*  He  even  rebuked  the  zeal  of  his  brother  James  and  said  in  his  ironical  way,  "  I 
am  too  old  to  go  again  upon  my  travels ;  you  may,  if  you  choose."  It  is  strange  that 
Charles,  with  all  his  cleverness,  did  not  connect  his  name  with  any  valuable  measure 
of  his  reign.    Shaftesbury's  epigram  was  but  too  true : 

"  Here  lies  our  sovereign  Lord  the  king, 

Whose  word  no  man  relies  on; 
Who  never  said  a  foolish  thing, 
And  never  did  a  wise  one." 
t  On  the  death  of  James,  Louis  XIV.  recognized  this  son  as  the  rightfal  succeseoi 
(James  HI.).    The  Whigs  called  him  the  "  Pretender.''''    In  history  he  is  known  as  the 
*'  Old  Pretender ; ''  and  his  son,  the  "'Toung  Pretender'''  (Charles  HI.).    Charles's 
brother  (Henry  IX.)  was  the  last  male  heir  of  the  Stuart  line. 


1688]  EN"  GLAND     UNDER     THE     STUARTS.  511 

English  Eevolution,  which  began  with  the  Civil  War,  termi- 
nated after  a  struggle  of  eighty-five  years.  The  government  . 
was  finally  fixed  as  a  constitutional  monarchy.  Nothing 
w^as  afterward  heard  of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  of  taxation 
without  consent  of  Parliament,  or  of  Star  Chamber  courts 
of  justice. 

The  deposed  king  returned  to  Ireland  with  suppUes  fur- 
nished by  Louis,  and  the  Irish  gallantly  supported  his  cause. 
He  besieged  Londonderry,  but  the  inhabitants  defended  them- 
selves over  three  months.  In  the  extremity  of  their  hunger, 
they  greedily  ate  rats  and  mice,  and  even  chewed  old  shoes 
and  hides,  yet  never  breathed  the  word  surrender.  At  last, 
the  English  fleet  broke  through  the  boom  in  the  river,  and 
the  besiegers  fled.  William  finally  crossed  into  Ireland,  and 
ended  the  war  by  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne  (1690),  where, 
though  wounded,  he  dashed  through  the  river,  and  led 
the  charge.  James,  seeing  all  was  lost,  took  to  flight. 
'^^  Change  kings  with  us."  said  a  brave  Irish  oflBcer,  "and 
we  will  fight  you  again."  Once  more  Ireland  was  conquered, 
and  the  native  Catholics  were  ground  down  under  English 
oppression. 

William  III.  (1689-1702)  was  weak  and  sickly  from  the 
cradle  ;  his  manner  was  cold,  stifi",  and  unattractive  ;  and, 
in  spite  of  his  genius  and  nobility  of  character,  he  made  few 
friends  in  England.  The  death  of  Mary,  whose  wifely  devo- 
tion had  sunk  her  life  in  his  and  whose  cheerfulness  had 
brightened  his  dull  court,  left  him  still  more  silent  and 
abstracted.  The  entire  reign  was  disturbed  by  plots  of  the 
Jacobites — the  friends  of  James.  They  took  the  oath  to 
William  and  joined  his  counsels  only  to  reveal  his  plans  to 
his  enemies.  WiUiam  valued  his  crown  chiefly  because  it 
strengthened  him  in  carrying  out  the  object  of  his  life — to 
break  the  power  of  Louis  XIV.    In  order  to  gain  support  in 


513  THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY.  [1702. 

his  European  wars,  he  yielded  power  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, which  became  what  it  is  to-day,  the  real  governing 
body.  While  preparing  to  take  tlie  field  in  the  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  he  died,  leaving  the  crown  to  Mary's 
sister, 

Anne  (1702-'14).— "Good  Queen  Anne,"  the  last  of  the 
Stuarts,  was  kind-hearted,  but  of  moderate  ability,  and  was 
ruled  by  her  favorite,  the  wife  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough. 
William's  policy  being  continued,  Marlborough  *  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  army  ;  within  five  years  he  achieved  four 
great  victories  over  France  (p.  493).  There  was  a  constant 
struggle  between  the  Whigs — the  war  party,  and  the  Tories 
— the  peace  party.  The  former  thought  of  the  future  inter- 
ests of  the  country ;  the  latter,  of  the  constantly  growing 
national  debt.  Finally,  the  Tories  gained  the  ascendenc}', 
Marlborough  was  recalled,  and  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  ended 


*  The  character  of  Marlborough— the  general  who  stayed  the  progress  of  France, 
and  who  successively  betrayed  William  IH.,  James  11.,  and  Queen  Anne— is  thus 
brilliantly  portrayed  by  Thackeray,  in  his  novel  Esmond:  "Our  chief,  whom  Eng- 
land and  all  Europe,  saving  only  the  Frenchmen,  worshiped  almost,  had  this  of  the 
godlike  in  him,  that  he  was  impassible  before  victory,  before  danger,  before  defeat. 
He  was  always  cold,  calm,  resolute,  like  fate.  He  performed  a  treason  or  a  court 
bow,  he  told  a  falsehood  as  black  as  Styx,  as  easily  as  he  paid  a  compliment  or  spoke 
about  the  weather.  Our  duke  was  as  calm  at  the  mouth  of  the  cannon  ag  at  the  door 
of  a  drawing-room.  Perhaps  he  could  not  have  been  the  great  man  he  was,  had 
he  had  a  heart  either  for  love  or  hatred,  or  pity  or  fear,  or  regret  or  remorse.  He 
achieved  the  highest  deed  of  daring,  or  deepest  calculation  of  thought,  as  he  per- 
formed the  very  meanest  action  of  which  a  man  is  capable ;  he  cheated  afond  woman, 
or  robbed  a  poor  beggar  of  a  halfpenny,  with  a  like  awful  serenity.  He  used  all  men, 
great  and  small,  that  came  near  him,  as  his  instruments  alike,  and  took  something  of 
theirs,  either  some  quality  or  some  property  ;  the  blood  of  a  soldier  it  might  be,  or  a 
jeweled  hat,  or  a  hundred  thousand  from  a  Icing,  or  a  portion  out  of  a  starving  senti- 
nel's three-farthings,  and  having  this  of  the  godlike  in  him,  that  he  could  see  a  hero 
perish  qt  a  sparrow  fall,  with  the  same  amount  of  sympathy.  Not  that  he  had  no 
tears ;  he  could  always  bring  up  his  reserve  at  the  proper  moment  to  battle ;  he  could 
draw  upon  tears  and  smiles  alike,  and  whenever  need  was  for  using  this  cheap  coin. 
He  would  cringe  to  a  shoeblack,  as  he  would  flatter  a  minister  or  a  monarch ;  be 
haughty,  be  humble,  threaten,  repent,  weep,  grasp  your  hand,  or  stab  you,  whenever 
he  saw  occasion.  But  yet,  those  of  the  army  who  knew  him  best,  and  had  suffered 
most  from  him,  admired  him  most  of  all ;  and,  as  he  rode  along  the  lines  to  battle,  or 
galloped  up  in  the  nick  of  time  to  a  battalion  reeling  from  before  the  enemy's  charge 
or  shot,  the  fainting  men  and  officers  got  new  courage  as  they  saw  the  splendid  calm 
of  his  fece,  and  felt  that  his  vdll  made  them  irresistible." 


1714]  THE     CIVILIZATION".  513 

the  long  contest  with  Louis.  Anne's  health  was  aflfected  by 
the  dissensions  of  her  ministers,  and,  on  her  death  in  1714, 
the  crown  passed,  by  act  of  Parliament,  to  the  House  of 
Hanover. 

The  chief  political  event  of  this  reign  was  the  union  of 
Scotland  with  England  as  the  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
(1707). 

THE    CIVILIZATION. 

Progress  of  Civilization.— The  second  century  of  the  Modern 
Era  was  characterized  by  the  development  of  Hterature  and  science,  as 
the  sixteenth  had  been  by  that  6f  commerce  and  art. 

Literature. — English  Literature  still  flourished.  Shakspere  yet 
stood  at  the  front,  and  in  the  first  decade  composed  his  sublime  trage- 
dies. Next,  Fletcher,  Beaumont,  and  "Rare  Ben  Jonson "  followed 
their  master  from  afar.  Jeremy  Taylor  wrote  Holy  Living  and  Dying  ; 
Richard  Baxter — a  famous  Puritan  author — published  his  Saints'  Rest  ; 
and  the  quaint  Isaac  Walton,  his  Compleat  Angler.  After  the  Resto- 
ration, there  were  Dryden,  prince  of  satirists;  Butler,  author  of  the 
witty  Hudibras ;  and  John  Locke,  whose  Essay  on  the  Human  Under- 
standing remained  a  text- book  in  mental  philosophy  until  almost  our 
own  day.  Milton,  who  had  been  secretary  to  Cromwell,  now  penned,  in 
blindness  and  poverty,  the  immortal  epic,  Paradise  Lost ;  while  Bunyan, 
shut  up  in  Bedford  Jail  for  conscience'  sake,  dreamed  out  Pilgrim's 
Progress — a  book  that  has  been  more  read  than  any  other  save  the 
Bible. 

French  Literature  now  reached  its  climax.  "  No  other  country,"  says 
Macaulay,  "  could  produce  a  tragic  poet  equal  to  Racine,  a  comic  poet 
equal  to  Moliere,  a  trifler  so  agreeable  as  La  Fontaine,  a  rhetorician  so 
skilful  as  Bossuet.  Besides  these,  who  were  easily  first,  there  were 
Pascal,  whose  Provincial  Letters  created  a  standard  for  French  prose  ; 
Fenelon,  whose  Telemachus  still  retains  its  wonderful  popularity  ;  Boi- 
leau,  who  has  been  styled  the  Horace  of  France ;  Madame  de  Sevigne, 
whose  graceful  Letters  are  models  of  epistolary  style  ;  and  Massillon, 
who  pronounced  over  the  grave  of  Louis  XIV.  a  eulogy  ending  with 
the  sublime  words,  "  God  alone  is  great. " 

Philosophy  now  boasted,  in  England,  Bacon,  the  author  of  the  Induc- 
tive Method  that  teaches  men  to  observe  the  facts  of  Nature  and  thus 
deduce  her  laws.  France  possessed  Descartes,  who,  by  leading  men  to 
reason  for  themselves  rather  than  to  search  for  authority,  performed 
for  metaphysics  the  same  service  that  Bacon  had  for  natural  science. 


514 


THE     SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY, 


PORTKAirS    OF    DKVDEN,    MILTON,    AND     BUNYAN. 


Holland  had  Spinoza,  whose  sublime  speculations  have  influenced 
many  of  the  profoundest  thinkers  of  the  world;  though,  as  Hallam 
remarks,  "  he  did  not  essentially  differ  from  the  Pantheists  of  old." 
Germany  contained  the  fourth  great  leader,  Leibnitz,  in  wliose  encyclo- 
paedic mind  philosophy,  medicine,  theology,  jurisprudence,  diplomacy, 
and  mathematics  were  all  arranged  in  orderly  sequence.  He  developed 
the  theory  of  optimism — that  of  the  possible  plans  of  creation  God  had 
adopted  the  one  which  economized  time,  space,  and  matter. 

Science  made  rapid  strides  throughout  this  entire  century.  Galileo 
invented  the  telescope  and  was  the  first  to  see  Jujuter's  moons.  The 
year  that  Galileo  died,  Newton  was  born  (1642).  He  wrote  the  Princi- 
pia,  explained  the  theory  of  colors,  and  discovered  the  law  of  gravita- 
tion ;  yet  this  wonderful  man  was  so  modest  that  a  short  time  before 
his  death  he  declared  ' '  I  seem  to  myself  to  have  been  only  a  boy  play- 
ing on  the  sea-shore.  *  *  while  the  great  ocean  of  truth  lies  undiscov- 
ered before  me."  Every  branch  of  science  felt  the  inspiration  of  the 
new  method.  Torricelli  of  Florence  invented  the  barometer;  and 
Guericke  of  Magdeburg,  the  air-pump.  Harvey  discovered  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood  (1619).  Napier,  by  means  of  logarithms,  shortened 
mathematical  operations.  Huyghens  applied  the  pendulum  to  the 
clock.  Pascal  found  that  the  air  has  weight.  Kepler  worked  out  his 
three  famous  laws  of  planetary  motion.  Horrox  observed  a  transit  of 
Venus.  Roemer  measured  the  velocity  of  light.  Halley  foretold  the 
return  of  a  comet.  Louis  XIV.  established  the  French  Academy  of 
Sciences ;  and  Charles  11.,  the  English  Royal  Society.    Science  became 


THE     CIVILIZATIOiq-.  515 

the  fashionable  thing  under  the  later  Stuarts.  There  was  a  royal 
laboratory  in  the  palace  at  Whitehall,  and  even  the  court  ladies  prated 
of  magnets  and  microscopes. 

Art. — The  Netherlauds  now  excelled  in  art,  the  Flemish  and  Dutch 
schools  possessing  that  wonderful  trio — Rubens,  Vandyke,  and  Rem- 
brandt. Velasquez  and  Murillo  were  the  great  Spanish  painters.  Italy 
presented  nothing  better  than  Salvator  Rosa.  England  had  a  famous 
architect— Sir  Christopher  Wren — who  planned  St.  Paul's  Cathedral 
and  fifty  churches  destroyed  in  the  Great  Fire  in  London;  but  her 
native  painters  were  of  little  ability,  and  the  famous  portrait  of 
Charles  I.  was  by  Vandyke,  the  Flemish  artist,  as  in  the  previous 
century  those  of  the  Tudors  were  by  Holbein,  a  German. 

LOUIS    XIV.    AND    HIS   COURT. 

The  "  Grand  Monarch"  had  extravagant  ideas  of  the  royal  pre- 
rogative, and  claimed  absolute  right  over  the  life  and  property  of  every 
subject.  His  favorite  motto  was, 
"  I  am  the  state."  Vain,  imperi- 
ous, self -asserting,  with  large, 
handsome  features,  a  fine  figure, 
and  a  majestic  manner,*  he  made 

himself  the  model  for  artists,  the  — .^^^ 

theme  for  poets,  the  one  bright  signature  of  louis  xiv. 

sun  whose  rays  all  other  bodies 

were  to  reflect.  It  was  only  by  the  grossest  flattery,  and  by  ascribing 
every  success  to  him  that  his  ministers  retained  their  places  ;  and  the 
slightest  affront  by  any  government  was  the  signal  to  set  in  motion  his 
mighty  fleet  and  army.  The  absurd  adulation  poured  in  the  ear  of  the 
English  Queen  a  century  before  was  repeated  in  the  fulsome  flattery  at 
Versailles,  and  found  as  welcome  reception.  **  That  which  amazeth  me 
is  that  after  all  these  years  I  do  behold  you  the  self-same  queen,  in  per- 
son, strength,  and  beauty  ;  insomuch  that  I  am  persuaded  that  time, 
which  catcheth  everybody  else,  leaves  only  you  untouched,"  unblush- 
ingly  aflBrmed  even  the  prosaic   Cecil,   when   Elizabeth  was  faded, 

*  "  He  walked,"  says  White,  "with  the  tramp  of  dignity,  rolling  his  eyes  and  turn- 
ing out  his  toes,  while  the  courtiers  hurst  into  loud  applause.  The  red  heels  of  his 
shoes,  four  inches  high,  added  much  to  his  stature,  hut  yet  did  not  bring  him  up  to 
the  standard  of  ordinary  men.  In  imitation  of  their  royal  master,  all  gentlemen  tied 
themselves  in  at  the  waist,  stuck  out  their  elbows,  and  walked  with  a  stmt.  They 
also  wore  immense  wigs  covered  with  flour,  flowing  over  their  shoulders,  and  silver- 
buckled  shoes  that  came  nearly  up  to  the  ankle.  A  hat  it  was  impossible  for  a  con- 
jurer to  balance  on  the  top  of  the  enormous  periwig,  so  they  carried  the  three-cor- 
nered cockaded  superfluity  under  the  arms  or  in  their  hands.  Rich  velvet  coats,  with 
amazingly  wide  skirts,  brocaded  waistcoats  half  way  to  the  knee,  satin  small-clothes 
and  silk  stockings,  composed  their  apparel,  which  received  its  crowning  adornment 
in  gold-beaded  cane  and  diamond-hilted  sword." 


516 


THE     SEVEKTEEKTH     CEN^TLRY. 


COURT    OF    LOUIS    XIV. 


wrinkled,  and  nearing  her  seventieth  year.  **  Ah,  Sire,  the  raiu  of 
Marly  does  not  wet,"  protested  the  dripping  Cardinal  de  Polignac, 
when  caught  in  a  shower  at  the  exclusive  "  rural  retreat,"  fitted  up  by 
Louis  and  Madame  de  Maintenon  in  !he  king's  old  age. 

The  Court  Etiquette  was  inflexible,  from  the  morning  presentation 
(at  the  end  of  a  long  cane  and  through  the  parting  of  the  undrawn  bed- 
curtains)  of  the  royal  wig  without  which  His  Majesty  was  never  seen, 
down  to  the  formal  tucking-in  of  the  royal  couch  at  night.  Above  all, 
everywhere  and  always,  it  was  The  King  who  was  the  etiquette,  the  art, 


THE     CIVILIZATIOK.  517 

the  fashion  of  the  day.  His  courtiers  prostrated  themselves  at  his  feet 
like  the  slaves  of  some  Oriental  despot.  To  be  allowed  to  accompany 
him  in  his  walks,  to  carry  his  cane  or  sword,  to  hold  a  taper  during  his 
toilette,  to  draw  on  the  royal  shoes,  or  even  to  stand  and  watch  the  rob- 
ing of  the  monarch,  were  honors  to  live  and  die  for.  Never  sated  with 
the  most  servile  flattery,  he  complacently  inhaled  the  incense  due  to  a 
demi-god. 

The  Palace  at  Versailles,  built  at  an  expense  of  over  eighty 
million  dollars,  was  the  creation  of  the  king,  and  is  a  symbol  of  his  own 
character.  Vast,  ambitious,  but  coldly  monotonous  in  effect ;  magnifi- 
cent in  decoration  ;  recklessly  extravagant  in  the  means  by  .which  its 
end  was  attained,  and  seeking  to  embrace  the  brilliancy  of  the  entire 
kingdom  in  its  own  circumference,  it  was  the  Mecca  of  every  courtier. 
Stone  and  marble  here  became  an  endless  series  of  compliment  and  hom- 
age to  the  royal  person,  and  the  acres  of  elaborate  ceiling,  painted  by  Le- 
brun,  are  a  continued  apotheosis,  casting  all  Olympus  at  the  royal  feet. 

The  garden,  with  its  long  straight  avenues  bordered  by  alternating 
trees  and  statues,  and  stretching  out  beyond  the  visible  horizon ;  its 
colossal  fountains,  where  bronze  or  marble  nymphs,  dolphins,  tritons, 
and  sea-monsters  play  with  water  brought  at  immense  cost  from  a  far 
distance  ;  its  grand  cross  shaped  canal ;  its  terraces  and  orangeries  ;  its 
flower-beds  and  grove-embowered  lakes,  all  arranged  with  stately  regu- 
larity, seems  but  an  indefinite  prolongation  of  an  interminable  palace. 

A  Brilliant  Court  peopled  this  magnificent  abode.  Poorly  edu- 
cated himself — being  scarcely  able  to  read  or  write,  much  less  to  spell 
— Louis  w^as  munificent  in  his  awards  to  men  of  genius,  while  he  appro- 
priated their  glory  as  his  own.  A  throng  of  philosophers,  statesmen, 
writers,  scientists,  poets,  and  painters  clustered  about  the  throne  ;  and 
French  thought,  tastes,  and  ^nguage  were  so  impressed  upon  foreign 
nations  that  all  Europe  took  on  a  Parisian  tinge.  Here,  too,  were 
women  of  unusual  wit  and  beauty,  whose  power  was  felt  in  every  pub- 
lic act.  Social  deference  and  gallantry — led  by  the  king,  who,  it  is  said, 
never  passed  a  woman,  even  a  chambermaid,  without  lifting  his  hat — 
gave  them  the  political  rights  denied  by  law.  They  were  the  head  and 
soul  of  all  the  endless  intrigues  of  the  time.  Again,  as  in  the  days  of 
chivalry,  a  woman's  smile  was  the  most  coveted  reward  of  valor ;  and 
political  schemes  were  wrought  out,  not  in  the  cabinet  of  a  statesman, 
but  in  the  salon  of  a  lady.  (Conversation,  in  this  brilliant  circle,  was 
made  an  art.  "  We  argue  and  talk,  night  and  day,  morning  and  even- 
ing, without  object,  without  end,"  wrote  Madame  de  Sevigne,  herself 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  wits  of  the  day.  Letter- writing  also 
became  a  passion,  and  the  graceful  epistles  of  this  century  are  a  fit 
sequel  to  the  spicy  memoirs  of  the  preceding  one. 

By  common  consent,  the  latter  part  of  the  17th  century  is  known  in 
history  as  the  Age  of  Louis  XIV, 


518 


THE  SEVENTEEKTH  CEKTURY. 


SUMMARY. 

The  seventeenth  was  the  century  of  Richelieu,  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
Louis  XIV.,  Cromwell,  the  Stuarts,  Milton,  Corneille,  Bacon,  Newton, 
Galileo,  Rubens,  Rembrandt,  and  Murillo.  It  saw  the  assassination  of 
Henry  IV. ;  the  Thirty- Years  War,  the  victories  of  Turenne  and  Conde ; 
the  Treaty  of  Westphalia  ;  the  long  struggle  between  Louis  XIV.  and 
William  of  Orange  ;  three  great  wars  of  the  Age  of  Louis  XIV. ;  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes ;  the  rise  of  Puritanism  ;  the  battles 
of  Naseby  and  Marston  Moor  ;  the  Execution  of  Charles  I. ;  the  glories 
of  the  Protectorate  ;  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  ;  and  the  Revolution 
of  1688. 

READING     REFERENCES. 

General  Modern  Eistories  named  on  p.  U29,  and  the  Special  Histories  of  England, 
France,  Germany^  etc.,  on  p.  Un.—Macaulay^s  History  of  England  {Chapter  III.  J^or 
Picture  of  Life  in  the  Seventeenth  Century).— Schiller'' s  History  of  the  Thirty-  Tears 
War.— Gardiner's  Thirty-Tears  War;  and  the  Puritan  Revolution;  Hale's  Fall 
of  the  Stuarts  {Epochs  of  History  Series).— Voltaire's  Age  of  I/mis  XIV.— Ban- 
croft's History  of  the  United  States  (chapters  relating  to  English  statesmen  and 
their  views).— Taine's  Ancient  Pegime.— Browning's  Great  Pebellion  (Handbook 
of  History  Series).— Hausser's  Period  of  the  Reformation  (Thirty-Tears  War).— 
Trench's  Lectures  on  Gustavus  Adolphus.— Cor dery  and  PhillpotVs  King  and  Com- 
monwealth.—Motley's  John  of  Barneveld  (Svlly  and  Henry  IV.).—Robson's  Life 
of  Richelieu.— Bulwer  Lytton's  Richelieu  (drama).— Jamas' s  Memoirs  of  Great  Com- 
manders (Conde  and  Turenne).— James's  Life  of  Louis  XlV.—  ClemenVs  Life  of 
Colbert.— Mackay' s  Popular  Delusions,  art.  The  Mississippi  Scheme,  South  Sea  Bubble, 
etc.— Stephen's  Lectures  on  French  History.— Pardoe's  Louis  XIV. — Challice''s  Mem- 
oiies  of  French  Palaces.— James's  Heidelberg  ;  Richelieu  (fiction).— Rambaud's  His- 
tory of  Russia  from  the  Earliest  Times.— Dunham's  Histories  of  Poland  ;  Spain 
and  Portugal;  and  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway.— Walpole's  Short  History  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Ireland. 

C  H  RONOLOGY. 


A.  D. 

Union   of   English    and    Scottish 

crowns  under  James  1 1603 

Henry  IV.  assassinated 1610 

Thirty -Years  War 1618-'48 

Age  of  Richelieu 1622-'42 

Siege  of  Rochelle 1628 

Gustavus  Adolphus  lands  in  Pome- 

rania 1630 

Siege  of  Slagdeburg 1631 

Battle  of  Leipsic 1631 

Battle  of  Lutzen,  death  of  Gustavus  16.32 

Long  Parliament  meets 1640 

Battles  of  Rocroi,  Freiburg,  Nord- 

lingen,  and  Lens . .  1643-'8 

Louis  XIV 1643-1715 


A.  D. 

Battle  of  Marston  Moor 1644 

Battle  of  Naseby 1645 

Peace  of  Westphalia 1648 

Charles  I.  beheaded 1649 

Battles  of  Dunbar  and  Worcester.l650-'51 
Oliver  Cromwell,  Lord  Protector.  .1658-'8 

Great  Fire  in  London, 1666 

Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 1668 

Peace  of  Nimeguen 1678 

Habeas  Corpus  Act  passed 1679 

Peter  the  Great 1682-1725 

Edict  of  Nantes  revoked 1685 

William  and  Mary  crowned 1689 

Treaty  T)f  Ryswick 1697 

Charles  XII.  King  of  Sweden 1697 


CONTEMPORARY  SOVEREIGNS. 


519 


CONTEMPORARY    SOVEREIGNS. 


ENGLAND. 

James  1 1603 


Charles  I 


16:^ 


Cm  on  wealth  1649 
Charles  II...  1600 

James  II 1085 

William   and 
Anne 1689 


FRANCE. 

Henry  IV....  1589 
Louis  XIII..  1610 


Louis  XIV 


1643 


GERMANY. 

Rudolph 1576 

Matthias  ....  1612 
F'rdinandll.  1619 
F'rdin'ndlll.  1637 

Leopold  L...  1658 


SPAIN. 
Philip  III....  1598 

Philip  I  v....  1621 


Charles  U...  1665 


THE     PALACE    OF    THE    LUXEMBOURG. 


520  THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY. 

THE    EIG-HTEENTH    CENTURY. 

I.  PETER  THE  GREAT  OF  RUSSIA,  AND  CHARLES  XII.  OF  SWEDEN. 

Russia  was  founded  in  the  ninth  century  by  the  Norse- 
man, Ruric.  The  Greek  rehgion  was  introduced  by  his 
daughter-in-law,  Olga.  This  Slavic  land  was  repeatedly 
overrun  by  Mongol  hordes,  and  finally  conquered  by  Oktai 
(p.  405).  For  over  two  centuries  the  house  of  Ruric  paid 
tribute  to  the  Khan  of  the  Golden  Horde.  Ivan  the  Oreat 
(1462-1505)  threw  off  this  Tartar  yoke,  and  subdued  Nov- 
gorod ;  while  Ivan  the  Terrible  (who  first  took  the  title,  of 
Czar,  4.533-'84)  conquered  Kazan,  Astracan,  and  Siberia. 
Feodor,  Ivan's  son,  was  the  last  of  the  Ruric  line  (1598). 
After  years  of  civil  war,  the  crown  fell  to  Michael 
Romanoff,  ancestor  of  the  present  czar  (1613).  Russia 
was  now  a  powerful  but  barbarous  empire,  having  only  one 
seaport.  Archangel,  and  without  manufactures  or  a  navy. 
Shut  off  by  the  Swedes  from  the  Baltic  and  the  Turks  from 
the  Black  Sea,  it  had  little  intercourse  with  the  rest  of 
Europe  until  the  time  of 

Peter  the  Great. — From  the  age  of  ten,  when  he  be- 
came joint-king  with  his  demented  half-brother,  this  youth- 
ful czar  was  plotted  against  by  his  unscrupulous  step-sister. 

Geographical  QuesHons .—LocsAe  Azof.  Copenhagen.  Moscow.  Pultowa. 
Frederickshall.  Warsaw.  Dettingen.  Fontenoy.  Raucaux.  Lawfelt.  Lowositz. 
Kolin.  Rossbach.  Leuthen.  Zorndorf.  Kunersdorf.  Torgau.  Leignitz.  Huberts- 
burg.    Potsdam.    Berlin. 

Point  out  Brandenburg.  Livonia.  Finland.  Electorate  of  Saxony.  Silesia.   Ingria. 

Locate  Valmy.  Jemmapes.  Neerwinden.  Lyons.  Nice.  Lodi.  Parma.  Pavia. 
Castiglione.  Bassano.  Areola.  Mantua.  Mt.  Cenis.  Simplon  Pass.  Marengo. 
Vienna.  Hohenlinden.  Ulm.  Jena.  Austerlitz.  Eylau.  Friedland.'  Tilsit.  Tala- 
vera.  Torres  Vedras.  Saragossa.  Salamanca.  Vittoria.  Madrid.  Wagram. 
Dresden,    Borodino.    Moscow.    Leipsic.     Ligny.     Waterloo. 


PETER     THE     GREAT     OF     RUSSIA 


521 


PORTRAIT    OF    IVAN     THE    TERRIBLE. 


the  regent  Sophia.  When  seventeen  years  old,  he  grasped 
the  sceptre  for  himself  (1689).*  At  once  he  began  to  civilize 
and  elevate  his  savage  subjects.  Having  organized  some 
troops  after  the  European  manner  and  built  a  small  flotilla, 
he  sailed  down  the  Don  and  captured  Azof,  the  key  of  the 
Euxine,  and  Russia's  first  seaport  on  the  south.  He  next 
resolved  to  visit  foreign  countries  and  learn  the  secret  of 
their  progress. 

Visit  to    Western  Europe. — Leaving  the  government  in 
the  hands  of  an  old  noble,  he  accordingly  went  to  Amster- 


*  The  year  of  the  devastation  of  the  Palatinate  by  Lonis  XIV. :  also,  that  in 
which  England  secured  a  constitutional  government  under  William  III. 


522 


THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY. 


[1697. 


dam,  where  he  hired  as  a  la- 
borer in  a  ship-yard.  Under 
the  name  of  Peter  Zimmer- 
mann,  he  plied  his  adze, 
earned  his  regular  wages, 
lived  in  two  rooms  and  a  gar- 
ret, mended  his  clothes,  and  cooked  his  own  food.  Mean- 
while, besides  learning  how  to  build  a  ship,  he  studied  the 
manufactures  and  institutions  of  this  famous  Dutch  city, 
where  he  picked  up  blacksmithing,  enough  of  cobbling 
to  make  a  pair  of  slippers,  and  of  surgery'  to  bleed  and 
to  pull  teeth.  Then,  crossing  to  England,  he  was 
heartily  received  by  William  IIL,  and  presented  with  a 
fine   yacht,   which  he   soon  learned  to  manage  with   the 


;.]  CHARLES     XII.      OF     SWEDEI^.  523 

best  of  the  sailors.  On  his  return  to  Russia,  Peter  began 
his 

Great  Reforms. — He  commanded  his  subjects  to  give  up 
their  long  beards  and  flowing  Asiatic  robes.  He  lessened 
the  power  of  the  nobles.  He  encouraged  the  women  of 
rank  to  come  out  of  their  oriental  seclusion  and  mingle  in 
society.  He  granted  religious  toleration  and  circulated  the 
Bible.  He  introduced  arithmetic  into  the  government 
offices,  where  accounts  had  previously  been  kept  .by  a  system 
of  balls  threaded  on  wire.  He  set  up  printing-presses; 
founded  schools,  hospitals,  and  paper  factories  ;  built  a  fleet, 
and  organized  an  army.  In  order  to  gain  a  port  on  the 
Baltic,  he  leagued  with  Denmark  and  Poland  to  dismember 
Sweden. 

Charles  XII.,  the  "  Madman  of  the  North,"  then  king 
of  Sweden,  though  but  eighteen  years  old  was  boyish  only 
in  age,  while  the  Swedish  army  retained  the  discipline  that 
under  Gustavus  had  won  the  fields  of  Leipsic  and  Liitzen. 
Undismayed  by  his  triple  foes,  Charles  swiftly  marched  to 
attack  Copenhagen,  and  in  two  weeks  brought  Denmark  to 
his  feet ;  next,  advancing  with  only  nine  thousand  men 
against  the  sixty  thousand  Russians  who  were  besieging 
Narva,  he  defeated  them  with  great  slaughter ;  then,  invad- 
ing Poland,  he  deposed  its  monarch,  Augustus  the  Strong 
(1704),*  and,  pursuing  him  into  his  Saxon  electorate,  forced 
him  to  sue  for  peace.  Charles  was  now  at  the  pinnacle  of 
his  glory.  England  and  France  sought  his  alliance,  and 
the  conqueror  of  Blenheim  visited  his  court.' 

Peter,  when  he  learned  of  the  defeat  at  Narva,  coolly  said, 

*  "It  is  impossible  to  avoid  comparing  the  occupations  and  amusements  of  the 
three  strong  men  of  this  time.  Charles  riding  horses  to  death  and  beheading  eheep 
and  bullocks  in  order  to  practice  with  his  sword  ;  Augustus  the  Strong  straightening 
horse-shoes  and  rolling  up  silver  plates  with  one  hand  ;  and  Peter  hammering  out 
iron-bars,  filling  fire-works  aud  building  ships."  Read  Schuyler's  "  Peter  the  Great," 
Scribner'p  Monthly,  Vol.  21 ;  tho  "  Romanoffs."  Harper's  Mag.,  Vol.  67 


524    .        THE    eightee:n"th    century.  [1709. 

"  These  Swedes,  I  knew,  would  beat  us  for  a  time,  but  they 
will  soon  teach  us  how  to  beat  them."  He  now  strained 
every  nerve  to  strengthen  his  forces  while  Charles  was 
triumphing  in  Poland.  He  disciplined  his  soldiers,  and 
even  melted  the  bells  of  Moscow,  to  cast  cannon.  He  cap- 
tured Narva,  the  scene  of  his  first  misfortune;  pushed  the 
Swedes  back  from  the  banks  of  the  Neva ;  and  there,  amid 
its  marshes,  founded  a  great  commercial  city — St.  Peters- 
burg. Three  hundred  thousand  peasants  were  set  at  work 
upon  the  new  capital,  and  within  a  year  it  rose  to  impor- 
tance. 

Charles's  Overthrow. — Rejecting  every  offer  of  peace, 
Charles,  like  a  greater  warrior  a  century  later  (p.  568), 
dreamed  of  dictating  a  treaty  under  the  walls  of  Moscow, 
and  rashly  invaded  Eussia.  Peter's  skirmishers  hung  on 
the  flanks  of  the  Swedish  army,  destroying  the  roads  and 
laying  waste  the  country.  Still  Charles  pressed  on,  even 
through  a  winter  so  severe  that  two  thousand  men  once  froze 
to  death  almost  in  his  presence.  At  Pultowa  Peter  gave 
him  battle  (1709).  Though  wounded,  Charles  was  borne 
to  the  field  in  a  litter ;  when  that  was  shattered  by  a 
cannon-ball,  his  gallant  soldiers  carried  him  about  upon 
their  pikes.  But  the  Swedes  had  at  last  taught  the  Russians 
how  to  conquer.  Charles  was  overpowered,  and  escaped 
into  Turkey  with  only  three  hundred  men. 

There  he  staid  nearly  five  years,  while  his  kingdom,  deprived 
of  its  head,  went  to  ruin.  The  Turks  at  first  espoused  his 
cause-;  but,  irritated  by  his  pride  and  obstinacy,  finally  re- 
solved to  Qxpel  their  unwelcome  guest.  The  heroic  madman 
armed  his  servants,  barricaded  his  house,  and  with  his  own 
sword  slew  twenty  of  his  assailants  before  he  submitted. 

When  at  last  he  returned  home,  he  found  Sweden  shorn 
of  its  conquests  and  exhausted  by  war.     But,  carried  away 


1718.]  PETER     THE     GREAT     OF     RUSSIA.  525 

by  an  insane  love  of  glory,  he  invaded  Norway  in  the  depth 
of  winter.  Europe  watched  with  amazement  the  course  of 
the  infatuated  monarch.  Suddenly,  news  came  that  he  had 
been  shot  in  the  trenches  at  Frederickshall  (1718).* 

Peter's  latter  Years  were  full  of  patriotic  labors.  As 
the  result  of  his  Swedish  war,  he  gained  Ingria,  Livonia, 
and  a  part  of  Finland,  thus  affording  Russia  a  broad  front 
upon  the  Baltic.  By  a  war  with  Persia,  he  won  land  upon 
the  Caspian  sea. '  Still  his  work  of  civilization  went  bravely 
on.  A  grateful  people  bestowed  upon  him  the  titles  of 
the  Great,  and  the  Father  of  his  Country.  His  last  act  was 
one  of  mercy.  While  wading  out  to  rescue  some  ship- 
wrecked sailors,  he  caught  a  fever  of  which  he  died.  He 
expired  in  the  arms  of  his  wife  Catharine, f  who  succeeded 
him  to  the  crown  of  all  the  Russias  (1725). 

Further  Additions  of  territory  were  made  by  Catharine 
(II.)  the  Great,  who  conquered  the  Crimea,  and  thus  gained 
control  of  the  Black  sea.  She  also,  in  conjunction  with  Austria 
and  Prussia,  dismembered  Poland.  The  Poles,  under  Ponia- 
towski  and  Kosciusko  (U.  S.  Hist,  p.  122),  took  a  heroicr 
stand  in  defence  of  their  liberties.  But  the  valor  of  these 
brave  patriots,  armed  with  scythes,  hatchets,  and  hammers, 

*  "  On  what  foundation  stands  the  warrior's  pride, 
How  just  his  hopes,  let  Swedish  Charles  decide  : 
A  frame  of  adamant,  a  soul  of  fire. 
No  dangers  fright  him,  and  no  labors  tire.  . 
*  *  *  * 

Peace  courts  his  hand,  but  spreads  her  charms  in  vain  ; 
'  Think  nothing  gained,'  he  cries,  '  till  naught  remain.' 
•     *  *  *  * 

His  fate  was  destined  to  a  barren  strand, 
A  petty  fortress  and  a  dubious  hand  ; 
He  left  a  name  at  which  the  world  grew  pale, 
To  point  a  moral  or  adorn  a  tale." 

—Johnson's  Vanity  of  Human  Wislies. 
t  She  was  an  orphan  peasant  girl,  who  fascinated  Peter  by  her  beauty.    Though 
she  could  neither  read  nor  write,  yet  her  merry  humor,  quick  intelligence,  and  kind 
heart  held  the  love  of  this  "  ba^rbarian  tyrant,"  and  soothed  him  in  his  terrible  fits 
of  stormy  rage  and  hate. 


526  THE     EIGHTEENTH     CEI^TURY.  [1794-'5. 

served  only  to  increase  the  horror  of  their  country's  ruin. 
In  his  intrenched  camp  before  Warsaw,  Kosciusko  for  a  time 
held  his  swarming  foes  at  bay;  but,  overpowered  at  last, 
bleeding  and  a  captive,  he  exclaimed,  ''  This  is  the  end  of 
Poland."  Prophetic  words  !  The  next  year,  Poland  was 
finally  ** partitioned"  between  Russia,  Prussia,  and  Austria, 
Russia  receiving  of  the  robbers'  spoils  181,000  square  miles. 
It  was  the  greatest  crime  of  the  18th  century.  But  this 
vast  addition  of  territory  brought  Russia  into  the  center  of 
Europe,  and  gave  her  an  interest  in  all  its  affairs. 

II.    RISE  OF   PRUSSIA,  AND  THE  AGE  OF  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT. 

Brandenburg  (p.  386),  to  which  the  duchy  of  Prussia  had 
been  added,  made  little  figure  in  history  until  the  time  of 
Frederick  William,  the  Great  Elector  (1640-'88).  A  rapid, 
clear-eyed  man,  he  dexterously  used  his  compact,  well  disci- 
plined little  army,  amid  the  complications  of  that  eventful 
period,  so  as  to  conserve  the  Brandenburg  interests.  He  en- 
couraged trade,  made  roads,  and  welcomed  the  Huguenots 
jvhom  Louis  XIV.. drove  from  France.  In  the  first  year  of 
the  18th  century,  his  son  Frederick  received  from  Leopold  I., 
in  return  for  furnishing  the  emperor  troops  during  the  War 
of  the  Spanish  Succession,  the  title  of  King  of  Prussia. 

HOUSE   OF   BRANDENBURG   D?  PRUSSIA. 

Frederick  William,  the  Great  Elector  (1640-'88). 

Frederick  I..  King  of  Prussia  (1688-1713). 
Frederick  William  I.  (1713-'40). 


Frederick  II.  (1740-'86).        Augustus  Willla.m.  Henry. 

Frederick  Willl\m  II.  (178&-'97). 


Frederick  wilmam  III.  (l'?97-'40).  Lewis. 


Frederick  William  IV.  (1840-'61).  Willla.m  I.  (1861). 

Frederick  William  Nicholas. 


1713.]  THE     RISE     OF     PRUSSIA.  527 

Frederick  WiUiam  I.  (1713-'40),  whom  Carlyle  calls  the 
"Great  Prussian  Drill  Sergeant,"  practiced  the  most  rigid 
economy  in  order  to  increase  his  army.  He  permitted 
only  one  extravagance — a  whim  for  giants.  A  tall  man  he 
would  bribe,  kidnap,  or  force  into  his  body-guard,  at  any 
cost.*  He  left  a  w^ell-fiUed  treasury,  and  eighty-four 
thousand  soldiers  to  his  son, 

Frederick  (II.)  the  Great  (1740-'86).t— The  young 
prince  had  seemed  to  be  more  a  poet  and  philosopher  than  a 
'*born  king,"  but  he  now  revealed  himself  as  a  military 
despot,  counseling  with  no  one,  confiding  in  no  one,  and 
having  but  one  object,  the  aggrandizement  of  Prussia. 

War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  (1741-48). — The  same 
}  ear  Frederick  came  to  the  throne,  the  emperor  Charles  VI. 
died,  leaving  his  daughter  Maria  Theresa  mistress  of  the 
hereditary  dominions  of  the  House  of  Austria — Hungary, 
Bohemia,  xiustria,  etc.  By  a  law  known  as  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction,  the  gi'eat  powers  of  Europe  had  guaranteed  her 
succession,  but  now  all  except  England  joined  to  rob  her  of 
her  inheritance.  Frederick  at  once  poured  his  troops  into 
Silesia,  which  he  claimed  as  having  formerly  belonged  to  Bran- 


*  An  Irishman,  seven  feet  high,  was  hired  by  a  bounty  equal  to  $6,200,  a  larger 
eum  than  the  salary  of  the  Prussian  ambassador  at  the  court  of  St.  James. 

t  Frederick's  father  possessed  "eccentricities  such  as,"  says  Macaulay,  "had 
never  before  been  seen  outside  of  a  mad-house."  He  would  cane  clergjrmen  who 
ventured  to  stop  in  the  street  to  admire  his  famous  soldiery  ;  and  even  kick  judges 
off  the  bench  for  rendering  a  decision  opposed  to  his  wishes.  On  one  occasion,  he 
tried  to  push  his  daughter  into  the  fire,  and  for  the  least  complaint  from  his  children 
at  the  table  he  would  throw  the  dishes  at  their  heads.  The  Crown  Prince,  Frederick, 
excited  the  king's  bitterest  animosity.  Frederick  showed  little  love  for  a  military 
life;  liked  finery:  studied  Latin  clandestinely ;  played  the  flute;  wore  long,  curly 
locks  ;  and  preferred  the  French  language  and  manners  to  the  homely  German.  His 
father  flogged  him  in  front  of  his  regiment,  and  then  taunted  him  with  the  disgrace. 
At  last,  Fritz's  life  became  so  unendurable  that  he  tried  to  run  away,  but  he  was  ar- 
rested, condemned  by  court-martial,  and  would  have  been  executed  by  the  irate  king, 
had  not  half  the  crowned  heads  in  Europe  interfered.  Afterward,  Fritz  contrived  to 
soften  the  hatred  of  his  surly,  irascible  father,  and,  in  the  end.  proved  a  filial 
sequel  to  him,  in  his  hearty  hatred  of  shams,  his  love  of  a  military  life,  and  even  his 
plovenly  dress  and  irritable  temper. 


528 


THE     EIGIITEEN^TH    CENTURY. 


[1741. 


denburg.  The  elector  of  Saxony 
invaded  Bohemia.  France  sup- 
ported the  claims  of  the  elector 
of  Bavaria  to  the  imperial  crown, 
and  a  French-Bavarian  army 
pushed  to  within  a  few  leagues 
of  Vienna.     Fleeino-  to  the  Diet 


FREDERICK   THE   GREAT   REVIEWING   HIS   GRENADIERS   AT   POTSDAM 


of  H angary,  the  queen  commended  to  it  her  infant  son. 
The  brave  Magyar  nobles,  drawing  their  sabres,  shouted: 
'^We  will  die  for  our  king,  Maria  Theresa."  A  powerful 
armyVas  formed  in  her  defence.  Frederick  was  bought  off 
by  the  cession  of  Silesia.  The  French,  left  single-handed 
to  bear  the  brijnt  of  the  battle,  were  blockaded  in  Prague, 


1743.]      THE    AGE    OF    FEEDERICK    THE    GREAT.        529 

and,  at  last,  only  by  a  disastrous  flight  escaped  to  the  fron- 
tier. George  II.  now  took  the  field  at  the  head  of  the 
English  and  Hanoverian  troops,  and  defeated  the  French  at 
Dettingen, 

Frederick,  alarmed  at  Maria  Theresa's  success  and  think- 
ing she  might  demand  back  his  conquests,  resumed  the  war, 
and  gained  three  battles  in  succession.  Meanwhile,  the  elec- 
tor of  Bavaria  died,  his  son  submitted  to  Maria  Theresa, 
and  her  husband  was  chosen  emperor  as  Francis  I.  Fred- 
erick was  only  too  glad  to  sign  with  Francis  the  Peace  of 
Dresden  and  thus  retain  Silesia. 

But  the  struggle  of  France  with  Austria  and  England 
still  went  on.  Louis  XV. 's  army  in  the  Netherlands,  under 
the  famous  Marshal  Saxe,  won  the  brilliant  victories  of 
Fontenoy,  Raucaux,  and  Law  felt.  The  peace  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  (1748)  closed  this  unjust  war.  Louis,  saying  that 
he  treated  as  a  prince  and  not  as  a  merchant,  surrendered 
his  conquests ;  so  that  France  and  England  acquired 
nothing  for  all  their  waste  of  blood  and  treasure,  while  the 
king  of  Prussia,  whose  selfish  policy  began  the  contest,  was 
the  only  real  gainer. 

Seven-Years.  War  (1756-63). — Eight  years  of  peace  now 
followed  —  a  breathing-spell  that  Frederick  employed  in 
improving  his  newly-acquired  lands,  and  in  strengthening 
his  army.  Maria  Theresa,  however,  was  determined  to  re- 
cover Silesia,  and,  by  the  help  of  her  great  minister  Kaunitz, 
formed  an  alliance  of  Austria,  France,  Eussia,  Saxony,  Swe- 
den, and  Poland  against  Prussia.  George  11.  of  England,  in 
order  to  save  his  beloved  Hanover,  alone  supported  Fred- 
erick. No  one  imagined  Prussia  could  meet  such  tremen- 
dous odds.  • 

1st  Campaign. — Frederick,  learning  of  this  league,  determined  to 
strike  the  first  blow.     Pouring  his  ever-ready  army  into  Saxony,  he 


650  THE     EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.  [1756. 

defeated  the  Austrians  at  Lo'wositz  (1756),  and,  surrounding  the  Saxons, 
compelled  them  to  surrender  and  enlist  in  his  ranks. 

Snd  Campaign. — The  next  year,  he  beat  the  Austrians  under  the  walls 
of  Prague.  But  now  misfortunes  gathered  fast.  He  met  his  first  great 
defeat  at  Kolin;  the  Russians  invaded  Prussia  ;  the  Swedes  landed  in 
Pomerania;  the  French,  after  capturing  the  English  army  in  Hanover, 
advanced  toward  Saxony  ;  and,  in  the  midst  of  all,  came  tidings  of  the 
death  of  his  mother,  the  only  being  whom  he  loved.  In  despair,*  Fred- 
erick thought  of  suicide,  but  his  highest  glory  dates  from  this  gloomy 
hour.  Rallying  his  men  and  his  courage,  he  turned  upon  his  foes,  and 
won  the  victories  of  Bosshach  over  the  French,  and  Lexitlien  over  the 
Austrians.  His  genius  set  all  the  world  to  wondering.  London  was 
ablaze  in  his  honor,  and  Pitt,  the  English  prime-minister,  secured  him 
a  grant  of  £700,000  per  annum. 

The  Srd  Campaign  witnessed  as  signal  a  victory  over  the  Russians 
at  Zorndorf,  but  saw  Frederick  beaten  at  Kunersdorf,  while  twenty 
thousand  of  his  men  surrendered  in  the  Bohemian  passes 

4th-6th  Campaigns. — Now,  for  three  years  longer,  the  circle  steadily 
narrowed  about  the  desperate  king.  Surrounded  by  vastly  superior  ar- 
mies, he  multiplied  his  troops  by  flying  from  point  to  point.  Beaten, 
he  retired  only  to  appear  again  in  some  unexpected  quarter.  He  broke 
through  the  enemies'  toils  at  Leignitz,  and  stormed  their  intrenched 
camp  at  Torgau. 

But  victory  and  defeat  alike  weakened  Frederick's  forces  ;  his  capital 
was  sacked;  his  land  wasted;  his  army  decimated  ;  his  resources  were 
exhausted  ,  and  it  seemed  as  if  he  must  yield,  when  a  death  saved  him. 
Elizabeth,  empress  of  Russia,  died,  and  her  successor,  Peter  UI. ,  his 
warm  friend,  not  only  withdrew  from  the  league,  but  sent  hini  aid. 
The  other  allies  were  weary  of  the  contest,  and  the  proud  Maria  The- 
resa was  forced  to  majse  peace  with  her  hated  rival.  The  Treaties  of 
Paris  and  Hubertsbwrg  (1763)  ended  this  gigantic  struggle  that  had  cost 
a  million  of  lives. 

The  Result  of  the  Seven- Years  War  was  to  leave, Silesia  in 
Frederick's  hands.  He  was  felt  to  be  one  of  the  few  great 
men  whose  coming  into  the  world  changes  the  fate  of  a 
country.  Prussia,  from  a  petty  kingdom  that  nobody  feared, 
was  raised  to  be  one  of  the  Five  Great  Powers  of  Europe. 

*  lu  this  extremity,  Frederick  solaced  himself  by  writing  poetry.  "We  hardly 
know,"  says  Macaulay,  "  any  instance  of  the  strength  and  weakness  of  human  na- 
ture so  striking  and  so  grotesque  as  the  character  of  this  haughty,  vigilant,  resolute 
blue-stocking,  bearing  up  against  a  world  in  arms,  with  an  ounce  of  poison  in  one 
pocket  and  a  quire  of  bad  verses  in  the  other." 


1763.]       THE    AGi:    OP    FREDEEICK    THE    GREAT.       531 

She  was  now  the  rival  of  Austria.  The  question  which 
should  be  supreme  was  not  settled  until  our  own  time.* 
The  Holy  Roman  Empire  was  thenceforth,  in  effect,  divided 
between  these  two  leaders,  and  the  minor  German  states 
were  grouped  about  them  according  to  their  interest  or 
inclination. 

Government. — Frederick  quickly  set  himself  to  repair 
the  waste  of  these  terrible  years.  He  practised  the  most 
rigid  economy,  rebuilt  houses,  furnished  seed,  pensioned 
the  widows  and  children  of  the  slain,  drained  marshes, 
constructed  roads  and  canals,  established  museums,  and 
developed  trade.  When  he  inherited  the  kingdom,  it  con- 
tained two  millions  of  inhabitants,  and  a  treasury  with  six 
million  thalers ;  he  died,  leaving  an  industrious  and  happy 
people  numbering  six  millions,  and  a  public  treasure  of 
seventy-two  million  thalers.  f 


*  The  "  Seven- Years  War  "  made  Prussia  a  European  power  ;  a  "  Seven-Weeks 
War"  (1866)  placed  it  above  Austria;  and  a  "Seven-Months  War"  (1870)  made  the 
king  of  Prussia  empferor  of  all  Germany. 

t  One  of  his  last  acts  was  to  make  a  treaty  with  our  young  republic ;  and  our  his- 
torians record  with  pride  that  he  sent  to  Washington  a  sword  inscribed,  "  The  oldest 
general  in  the  world  to  the  bravest."  Like  his  father,  he  was  fond  of  walking  or  rid- 
ing through  the  streets,  talking  familiarly  with  the  people,  and  now  and  then  using 
his  cane  upon  an  idler.  On  one  occasion,  he  met  a  company  of  school-boys,  and 
roughly  addressed  them,  "  Boys,  what  are  you  doing  here  ?  Be  off  to  school."  One 
of  the  boldest  answered,  "  Oh,  you  are  king,  and  don't  know  there  is  no  school  to- 
day 1 "  Frederick  laughed  heartily,  dropped  his  uplifted  cane,  and  gave  the  urchins 
a  piece  of  money  with  which  to  enjoy  their  holiday.— A  windmill  at  Potsdam  stood 
on  some  ground  which  he  wanted  for  his  park,  but  he  could  not  get  it  because  the 
miller  refused  to  sell,  and  he,  though  absolute  monarch,  would  not  force  him  to  leave. 
This  building  is  carefully  preserved  to-day,  as  a  monument  of  Frederick's  respect  for 
the  rights  of  a  poor  man  (Taylor's  Hist,  of  Germany).  The  famous  palace  at  Potsdam 
was  built  by  Frederick,  just  after  the  Seven-Years  War,  to  show  the  world  that  he 
was  not  so  poor  as  was  supposed.  It  is  second  only  to  the  palace  of  Versailles. 
Building  was  Frederick's  sole  extravagance.  After  the  war,  he  had  only  one  fine 
suit  of  clothes  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  It  is  said  that  he  was  buried  in  a  shirt  belong- 
ing to  a  servant.  He  allowed  free  speech  and  a  free  press.  "  My  people  and  I,"  said 
he,  "  understand  each  other.  They  are  to  say  what  they  like  and  I  am  to  do  what  I 
like."  He  tolerated  all  religions — probably  because  he  cared  for  none  himself.  His 
infidelity,  his  hatred  of  woman,  his  disregard  of  the  feelings  and  lives  of  others, 
and  his  share  in  the  spoliation  of  Poland  (p.  525),  form  the  dark  side  of  this  brilliant 
character,  and  leave  us  no  chance  to  love,  however  highly  we  may  admire. 


532  THE     EIGHTEEJ^^TH     CENTURY.  [1714. 


III.    ENGLAND    UNDER    THE    HOUSE    OF    HANOVER. 

The  House  of  Hanover,  which  still  wears  the  crown 
of  England,  came  to  the  throne  early  in  the  18th  century. 
Parliament,  when  changing  the  succession  from  the  Stuart 
line,  to  secure  a  Protestant  king,  selected  George,  elector  of 
Hanover,  great-grandson  of  James  I.  and  grandson  of  the 
Winter  King  of  Bohemia. 

The  characteristics  of  the  political  history  of  England 
under  the  Georges  were  the  increased  power  of  the  House  of 
Commons  and  the  bitter  strife  between  the  Whigs  and  the 
Tories.  The  18th  century  saw  also  our  own  Eevolutionary 
War  with  England. 

TABLE  OF  THE  HANOVER  (BRUNSWICK-LXJNEBURG)  LINE. 
George  I.  (1714-'27).    Compare  Table,  p.  494. 
Geobge  IL  (1727  -'60). 
Geobgb  in.  (1760-1820),  grandson  of  George  U. 


Geobge  IV.  (18aO-'30).  n    William  IV.  (l830-'37).       Edwabd,  duke  of  Kent. 

ViCTOELA.  (1837). 

George  I.  (1714-'27),  a  little,  elderly  German,  unable  to 
speak  a  word  of  English,  cold,  shy,  obstinate,  and  sullen  ; 
whose  manners  were  as  bad  as  his  morals ;  whose  wife  was 
imprisoned  for  some  alleged  misconduct :  and  whose  heart 
was  always  in  his  beloved  Hanover, — naturally  excited  little 
feeling  of  loyalty  among  his  British  subjects.  He  was,  how- 
ever, frugal,  industrious,  truthful,  and  governed  by  a  strong 
sense  of  duty.  A  despot  in  Hanover,  he  was  a  moderate 
ruler  in  England,  leaving  the  control  of  the  country  mostly 
to  Parliament.  Having  been  elected  by  the  Whigs,  he  chose 
his  ministers  from  that  party. 

The  South  Sea  Scheme,  or  Company,  was  organized  (1720) 
to  assume  a  part  of  the  National  Debt,  and,  in  return,  to 


1720.]      ENGLAND  —  THE    HOUSE    OF    HANOTEll        533 

have  a  monopoly  of  the  South  American  trade.  It  brought 
on  a  rage  for  speculation.  The  shares  rose  to  ten  times  their 
par  value.  Finally,  the  bubble  burst,  a  panic  ensued,  and 
thousands  were  ruined.    In  this  emergency,  all  eyes  turned  to 

Robert  Walpole,  who  was  made  prime-minister.  His  finan- 
cial skill  restored  the  public  credit.  For  over  twenty  years 
(1721-'42)  he  controlled  the  domestic  policy  of  the  country. 
He  was  a  dexterous  party-leader,  and  is  said  to  have  managed 
the  House  of  Commons  by  bribery  ;  but  his  policy  made  for 
peace  and  liberty,  and,  meanwhile,  England  prospered. 

George  II.  (1727-60)  could  speak  a  little  English,  and  so 
had  file  advantage  over  his  father.  He  possessed,  however, 
no  kingly  virtues  except  justice  and  bravery  ;  while  his 
attachment  to  his  native  country  kept  him  interfering  in 
continental  affairs.*  England  was  thus  dragged  into  the 
War  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  and  the  Seven- Years  War. 

In  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  George  beat  the 
French  at  Dettingen;  \  his  second  son,  the  Duke  of  Cum- 
berland, was  beaten  by  them  at  Fontenoy.  The  Peace  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  that  closed  this  contest,  gave  England  no  recom- 
pense for  the  blood  and  gold  her  king  had  lavished  so  freely. 

During  the  Seven- Years  War,  England  and  France  meas- 
ured their  strength  mainly  by  sea,  and  in  America  and  India. 
This  contest  is  known  in  our  history  as  the  French  and 
Indian  War  (U.  S.  Hist,  p.  81).  It  culminated  in  the  Bat- 
tle of  the  Plains  of  Abraham  that  wrested  Canada  from  the 

*  George  was  always  running  over  to  Hanover.  Once  he  was  gone  two  years,  while 
Queen  Caroline  remained  in  England.  During  his  absence,  a  notice  was  posted  on  the 
gate  of  St.  James's  palace  :  "  Lost  or  strayed  out  of  this  house  a  man  who  has  left  his 
wife  and  six  children  on  the  parish.  A  reward  is  offered  of  four  shillings  and  six- 
pence for  news  of  his  whereabouts.  Nobody  thinks  him  worth  a  crown  (five  shil- 
lings)." 

t  George  was  a  dapper  little  choleric  sovereign.  At  Dettingen,  his  horse  ran  away 
and  he  came  near  being  carried  into  the  enemy's  line.  Dismounting,  he  cried  out, 
"  Now,  I  know  I  shall  not  run  away,"  and,  charging  at  the  head  of  his  men,  he  encour- 
aged them  with  bad  English  but  real  pluck.  It  was  the  last  time  an  English  king  was 
seen  in  battle. 


534  THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY.  [1757. 

French.  In  Asia,  Robert  Olive,  by  the  victory  of  Plassy 
(1757),  broke  the  French  power  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
England's  supremacy  in  the  East.* 

William  Pitt,  the  Great  Commoner  (afterward  Earl  of 
Chatham),  came  to  the  front  during  these  Colonial  Wars. 
He  ruled  by  the  strength  of  his  character,  and  'trusting  his 
countrymen,"  says  Gardiner,  **  above  that  which  they  were 
able  to  do,  roused  them  to  do  more  than  they  had  ever  done 
before."  Under  his  vigorous  premiership,  England  won  two 
empires — North  America  and  India. 

TJie  Rise  of  Methodism  was  a  remarkable  event  of  this 
reign.  It  began  at  Oxford,  in  the  meeting  of  a  little  band 
of  University  members  for  prayer  and  religious  conversation. 
Their  zeal  and  methodic  ways  gave  them  the  nickname  of 
Methodists.  But  from  that  company  went  forth  Whitefield 
—  such  a  preacher  as  England  had  never  seen,  Charles 
Wesley — the  "Sweet  singer,"  and  John  Wesley — the  head 
and  organizer  of  the  new  movement.  "Their  voice  was 
heard,"  says  Green,  "in  the  wildest  and  most  barbarous 
corners  of  the  land,  among  the  bleak  moors  of  Northumber- 
land, in  the  dens  of  London,  or  in  the  long  galleries  where 
the  Cornish  miner  hears  in  the  pauses  of  his  labor  the  sob- 
bing of  the  sea."  They  were  mobbed,  stoned,  and  left  for 
dead,  but  their  enthusiasm  stirred  the  heart  of  England, 
aroused  men  to  philanthropic  work  among  the  English 
masses,  gave  to  common  life  a  spiritual  meaning,  started 
evangelical  labors  in  the  established  church,  and  founded  a 
denomination  that  in  our  time  numbers  its  members  by 
millions. 

*  The  wars  in  India  have  been  characterized  by  fiendish  cruelty.  Thus,  in  the 
year  preceding  Plassy,  the  nabob  of  Bengal  drove  one  hundred  and  forty-six  English 
prisoners  into  a  close  room  twenty  feet  square  (known  as  the  Black  Hole),  and  left 
them  to  die  of  suffocation.  The  next  morning  only  twenty-three  persons  remained 
alive.  It  is  noticeable  that  England  in  first  meddling  with, and  then  absorbing,  prov- 
ince after  province  in  India,  has  followed  the  old  Roman  plan  (p.  237). 


1760.]     ENGLAKD  —  THE    HOUSE    OE    HANOYER. 


535 


GEORGE    III. 


George  III.  (1760-1820)  was 
a  "  born  Englishman,"  and  those 
people  who  had  so  long  been 
grumbling  about  their  foreign 
kings  now  transferred  their  al- 
legiance from  the  Stuarts  to 
the  reigning  sovereign.  The 
Tories  got  control  of  the  govern- 
ment. Pitt  retired  from  the 
ministry. 

The  purity  and  piety  of 
George's  private  character  gave 
to  the  English  court  a  beautiful  home-life.  But,  though  a 
good  man,  this  "  Best  of  the  Georges  "  did  not  prove  a  good 
king.  He  was  dull,  illy-educated,  prejudiced,  obstinate,  and 
bent  upon  getting  power  for  himself.  Jealous  of  great  men, 
he  brought  about  him  incompetent  ministers  like  Bute, 
Grenville,  and  North — mouth-pieces  of  his  stupid  will  and 
blind  courage.  In  such  an  administration,  one  easily  finds 
the  causes  that  cost  England  her  American  colonies. 

This  was  the  longest  reign  in  English  history,  and  reached 
far  into  the  19th  century.  Late  in  his  life  (p.  583),  the  king 
became  insane  *  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  ruled  as  regent. 
The  sixty  years  saw  England  involved  in  the  War  of  the 
American  Revolution,  the  French  Eevolution,  and  the  War 
of  1812-'14.  The  wars  in  our  own  country  we.  have  already 
studied  in  the  history  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  French 
Revolution  will  be  treated  under  France. 


*  History  presents  no  sadder  figure  than  that  of  the  old  man,  blind  and  deprived 
of  reason,  wandering  through  the  rooms  of  his  palace,  addressing  imaginary  parlia- 
ments, reviewing  fancied  troops,  and  holding  ghostly  courts.  *  *  *  Some  lucid  mo- 
ments he  had,  in  one  of  which  the  queen,  desiring  to  see  him,  entered  the  room,  and 
found  hira  singing  a  hymn  and  accompanying  himself  at  the  harpsicord.  When  he 
had  finished,  he  knelt  down,  and  prayed  aloud  for  her,  for  his  family,  and  then  for 
the  nation.  He  concluded  with  a  prayer  for  himself  that  it  might  please  God  to  avert 
his  calamity  from  him,  but,  if  not,  to  give  him  resignation  to  submit.  Upon  that  he 
burst  into  tears  and  again  his  reason  fled.    (Thackeray's  Four  Geoi^ges.) 


536  THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY.      [1783-1801. 

Fox  and  Pitt  the  Younger  were,  after  the  American  Revo- 
lution, the  great  statesmen  of  the  day.  The  former  led  the 
Whigs  ;  the  latter  (second  son  of  the  great  Commoner),  the 
Tories.  Fox  possessed  eloquence  and  ability,  but  he  was  a 
gambler  and  a  boon-companion  of  the  erring  Prince  of 
Wales.  Pitt,*  Fox's  rival  and  his  equal  as  an  orator  and 
statesman,  became  prime-minister  at  twenty-four  years  of 
age;  his  policy  controlled  the  government  for  eighteen  years 
{1783-1801). 

IV.    THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION. 

IiOUis  XV.  (1715-74)  was  only  five  years  old  at  the  death 
of  his  great  grandfather,  the  Grand  Monarch.    The  regency 


N.»  /4^^^^ 

Cent  Uvres  Toumois, 

1-f  A  BANQ.UE  promet  yajtx  aa  Poiteur  a  viie  Cent  livres  Touni(»s 

en  E§)eces  d'Argent, 

valeiir  ie9eue.  A  Paris  le  premier  Jaxmer  mil 

^^fe- 

Sin^T  k^Bevrgeris, 

M^ 

FAC-SIMILE    OF     LAW  S     PAPER     MONEY. 


fell  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans — a  man  without  honor  or  prin- 
ciple. The  public  debt  was  enormous,  and  the  government 
had  no  credit.  To  meet  the  emergency,  Orleans  adopted  the 
project  of  John  Law,  an  adventurer,  who  issued  a  vast 
amount  of  paper-money  upon  the   security  of  imaginary 

*  Pitt's  character  was  unimpeachable.  Thus,  while  his  own  income  was  but  £300 
per  year,  a  sinecure  post  with  £3000  per  annum  became  vacant,  and,  as  he  had  the 
power  of  filling  it,  every  one  supposed  he  would  appoint  himself  to  the  place.  In- 
stead, he  gave  it  to  Col.  Barre,  who  was  old  and  blind.  When  Pitt  retired  from  the 
ministry  he  was  poor.    (Compare  Aristides,  p.  135). 


1720.] 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


537 


MARIE    ANTOINETTE,    AND    THE 
DAUPHIN. 


mines  in  Louisiana.  But  the  Mississippi  Bubble,  like  the 
South  Sea  Scheme  (the  same  year)  in  England,  burst  in 
overwhelming  ruin. 

An  Era  of  Shame. — Louis 
early  plunged  into  vice.  The 
real  rulers  of  France  were  his 
favorites,  Madame  de  Pompa- 
dour, and  later,  the  Comtesse 
du  Barri.  The  world  had  not 
seen  such  a  profligate  court 
since  the  days  of  the  Roman 
emperors.  The  War  of  the 
Austrian  Succession  and  the 
Seven- Years  War  had  de- 
prived France  of  vast  posses- 
sions and  added  hundreds  of  millions  to  the  already  hopeless 
debt.  Louis  foresaw  the  coming  storm,  and,  with  Pompa- 
dour, repeated,  "After  me  the  deluge;"  yet  he  sanctioned 
the  most  iniquitous  schemes  to  raise  money  for  his  vices, 
and  silenced  all  opposition  by  the  dungeons  of  the  Bastile. 
Louis  ZVI.  (1774-'93),  a  good,  well-meaning  young  man, 

but  shy  and  wo  fully  ig- 
norant of  public  affairs, 
succeeded  to  this  heritage 
of  extravagance,  folly, 
and  crime,— a  bankrupt 
treasury  and  a  starving 
people.  His  wife,  Marie 
Antoinette,  daughter  of 
Maria  Theresa,  though 
beautiful  and  innocent, 
was  of  the  hated  House 
of  Austria,  and  her  gay 


PORTRAIT    OF    TURCOT, 


538 


THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY.        [1774-'89. 


PORTRAIT   OF    NECKER. 


thoughtlessness  added  to 
the  general  discontent. 
Louis  desired  to  redress 
the  wrongs  of  the  country, 
but  he  did  not  know  how.^ 
Minister  succeeded  minis- 
ter, like  the  sh  if  ting  figures 
of  a  kaleidoscope.  Turgot, 
Necker,  Calonne,  Brienne, 
Necker  again,  each  tried  in 
vain  to  solve  the  problem. 
As  a  last  resort,  the  States- 
General — which  had  not 
met  for  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years — was  assembled. 
May  5th,  1789.     It  was  the  first  day  of  the  Eevolution. 

The  Condition  of  France  at  this  time  reveals  many  causes  of 
the  Revolution.  The  people  were  overwhelmed  by  taxation,  while  the 
nobility  and  clergy,  who  owned  two-thirds  of  the  land,  were  nearly 
exempt.  The  taxes  were  **  farmed  out,"  i.  e.  leased,  to  persons  who 
retained  all  they  could  collect  over  the  specified  amount.  The  unhappy 
tax-payers  were  treated  with  relentless  severity,  to  swell  the  profits  of 
these  farmers-general.  Each  family  was  compelled  to  buy  a  certain 
amount  of  salt,  whether  needed  or  not.  The  laws  were  enacted  by 
those  who  considered  the  common  people  born  for  the  use  of  the  higher 
class.  Justice  could  be  secured  only  by  bribery  or  political  influence. 
Men  were  sent  to  prison,  without  trial  or  charges,  and  kept  there  till 
death.  When  the  royal  treasury  needed  replenishing,  a  restriction  of 
trade  was  imposed,  and  licenses  were  issued  for  even  the  commonest 
callings.  The  peasants  were  obliged  to  labor  on  roads,  bridges,  etc., 
without  pay.  In  some  districts,  every  farmer  had  thus  been  ruined. 
Large  tracts  of  land  were  declared  game-preserves,  where  wild  boars 
and  deer  roamed  at  pleasure.  The  power  given  to  the  noble  over 
the  peasants  living  on  his  estate  was  absolute.  Lest  the  young  game 
might  be  disturbed  or  its  flavor  impaired,  the  starving  peasant  could 
neither  weed  his  little  plot  of  ground  nor  suitably  enrich  it.  He  must 
grind  his  corn  at  the  lord's  mill,  bake  his  bread  in  the  lord's  oven,  and 

*  A  princess  of  the  royal  femily  being  told  that  the  people  had  no  bread,  e:f* 
plaimed  in  all  simplicity,  "  Then,  why  not  give  them  cake  j" 


THE     FRENCH    REVOLUTION. 


539 


FRENCH     FAGOT-VENDER. 
(Eighteenth  Century.) 


press  his  grapes  at  the  lord's 
wine-press,  paying  whatever 
price  the  lord  might  charge. 
When  the  wife  of  the  seigneur 
was  ill,  the  peasants  were  ex- 
pected to  beat  the  neighboring 
marshes  all  night,  to  prevent  the 
frogs  from  croaking,  and  so  dis- 
turbing the  lady's  rest.  French  , 
agriculture  had  not  advanced  be- 
yond that  of  the  10th  century, 
and  the  plow  in  use  might  have 
belonged  to  Virgil's  time.  To 
complete  the  picture  of  rural 
wretchedness,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  serfs  were  bought 
and  sold  with  the  land  on  which 
they  were  born. 

The  strife  between  classes  had 
awakened  an  intense  hatred. 
The  nobles  not  only  placed  their  haughty  feet  on  the  necks  of  the 
peasants,  but  also  spoke  contemptuously  of  the  opulent  merchants,  and 
artisans.  In  turn,  the  wealthy  merchants  hated  and  despised  the  spend- 
thrift, dissolute,  arrogant  hangers-on  at  court,  whose  ill-gotten  revenues 
were  far  below  their  own  incomes  from  business. 

A  boastful  skepticism  prevailed,  and  all 
that  is  amiable  in  religion  or  elevating  in 
morals  was  made  a  subject  of  ridicule. 
The  writings  of  Rousseau,  Voltaire,  Hel- 
vetius,  Diderot,  and  other  infidels,  with 
their  brilliant  and  fascinating  theories  of 
liberty,  weakened  long- cherished  truths, 
mocked  at  virtue,  and  made  men  restive 
under  any  restraint,  human  or  divine. 

Democratic  ideas  were  rife.  The  despot- 
ism of  the  king  was  unendurable  to  men 
who  had  imbibed  the  intoxicating  prin- 
ciples of  liberty  then  current,  and  espe- 
cially to  those  who  had  just  helped  the 
United  States  to  win  its  freedom  (Hist. 
U.  S.,  p.  127).  Louis  XVI.  might  have 
delayed,  but  could  not  have  averted,  the  impending  catastrophe.  The 
Revolution  was  not  a  sudden  and  unexpected  event.  It  was  the  blos- 
soming of  a  seed  planted  long  before,  and  of  a  plant  whose  s.ow  and 
sure  growth  thoughtful  men  had  watched  for  years. 


FEMALE    HEAD-DRESS. 
(Eighteenth  Century.) 


540 


THE     EIGHTEENTH     CEIfTUEY. 


[1789. 


1.    ABOLITION  OF  THE  MONARCHY. 

The  National  Assembly. — The  tiers  Mat,  proving  to  be 
the  most  powerful  body  in  the  States-General,  invited  the 
nobles  and  clergy  to  join  it,  and  declared  itself  the  National 
Assembly.*  Louis  closed  the  hall ;  whereupon  the  members 
repaired  ta  a  Tennis  court  near  by,  and  swore  not  to  sepa- 
rate until  they  had  given  France  a  constitution.  Soon,  the 
weak  king  yielded,  and,  at  his  request,  the  coronets  and  mitres 
met  with  the  commons.  The  court  decided  to  overawe  the 
refractory  Assembly,  and  collected  thirty  thousand  soldiers 
about  Versailles. 
The  Paris  Mob,  excited  by  this  menace  to  the  people's 

representatives,  rose  in 
arms,  stormed  the  grim 
old  Bastile,  and  razed 
its  dungeons  to  the 
ground.  The  insur- 
rection swept  over  the 
country  like  wild-fire. 
As  in  the  days  of  the 
Jacquerie,  chateaux 
were  burned,  and  tax- 
gatherers  tortured  to 
•death.  Finally,  a  mad- 
dened crowd,  crying 
Bread  !  Bread  !  surged  out  to  Versailles,  sacked  the  palace, 
and,  in  savage  glee,  brought  the  royal  family  to  Paris. 
Various  political  clubs  began  to  get  control.  Chief  of  these 
were  the  Jacobin  and  the  Cordelier  (Hist.  France,  p.  206), 
whose  leaders — Robespierre,  Marat,  and  Danton,  preached 
sedition  and  organized  the  revolution. 

*  This  step  is  said  to  have  been  taken  by  the  advic?  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  onr 
piinister  plenipotentiary  to  France. 


THE     BASTILE. 


1789.]  THE     FRENCH     RETOLlTTION", 

Mi 


541 


SCENE    IN     PARIS    AFTER     THE    STORMING    OF    THE     BASTILE. 

Refonns  (1789-'91).*— The  Assembly,  in  a  furor  of 
patriotism,  extinguished  feudal  privileges,  abolished  serfdom, 
and  equalized  taxation.  The  law  of  primogeniture  was  abro- 
gated ;  titles  were  annulled  ;  liberty  of  conscience  and  of  the 
press  was  proclaimed,  and  France  was  divided  into  eighty- 
three  departments  instead  of  the  old  provinces. 

*  "  It  was  plain  that  the  First  Estate  must  bow  its  proud  head  before  the  flve-and- 
twenty  savage  millions,  make  restitution,  speak  well,  smile  fairly— or  die.  The 
memorable  4th  of  August  came,  when  the  nobles  did  this,  making  ample  confession 
of  their  weakness.  The  Viscomte  de  Noailles  proposed  to  reform  the  taxation  by 
subjecting  to  it  every  order  and  rank ;  by  regulating  it  according  to  the  fortune  of 
the  individual ;  and  by  abolishing  personal  servitude  and  every  remaining  vestige 
of  the  feudal  system.  An  enthusiasm,  which  was  half  fear  and  half  reckless  excite- 
ment, spread  throughout  the  Assembly.  The  aristocrats  rose  in  their  places  and 
publicy  renounced  their  seignorial  dues,  privileges,  and  immunities.  The  clergy 
abolished  tithes  and  tributes.  The  representative  bodies  resigned  their  municipal 
rights.  All  this  availed  little ;  it  should  have  been  done  months  before  to  have 
weighed  with  the  impatient  commons.  The  people  scorned  a  generosity  which 
relinquished  only  that  which  was  untenable,  and  cared  not  for  the  recognition  of  a 
political  equality  that  had  already  been  established  with  the  pike."  (Miss  Edwards's 
History  of  France.) 


542  THE     EIGHTEENTH     CEKTURY.  [1791. 

The  estates  of  the  clergy  were  confiscated,  and,  upon  this 
security,  notes  (assignats)  were  issued  to  meet  the  expenses 
of  the  government.  Having  adopted  a  constitution,  the 
Assembly  adjourned,  and  a  new  body  was  chosen,  called 

The  Legislative  Assembly  (1791). — The  mass  of  its 
members  were  ignorant  and  brutal.  The  most  respectable 
were  the  Girondists,  who  professed  the  simplicity  and  exalted 
virtue  of  the  old  Roman  republic.  The  Jacobins,  Cordeliers, 
and  other  violent  demagogues  were  fused,  by  a  common 
hatred  of  the  king,  into  one  bitter,  opposing  party.* 

Attack  upon  the  Tuileries. — Austria  and  Prussia  now 
took  up  arms  in  behalf  of  Louis  and  invaded  France.  This 
sealed  the  fate  of  monarch  and  monarchy.  Louis  was  known 
to  be  in  correspondence  with  the  princes  and  tlie  French 
nobles  who  had  joined  the  enemy.  The  approach  of  the 
allies,  and  especially  the  threats  of  the  Prussian  general, 
kindled  the  fury  of  the  Parisian  masses.  The  Girondists 
made  common  cause  with  the  Jacobins  in  stirring  up  the 
rabble  to  dethrone  the  king.  The  Marseillaise  was  heard 
f(>r  the  first  time  in  the  streets  of  Paris.  The  palace  of 
the  Tuileries  was  sacked ;  the  Swiss  guards,  faithful  to  the 
last,  were  slain  ;  and  Louis  was  sent  to  prison. 

The  Jacobins  were  henceforth  supreme.  They  arrested 
all  who  opposed  their  revolutionary  projects.  The  prisons 
becoming  filled,  hired  assassins  went  from  one  to  another 
for  four  days  of  that  terrible  September,  massacring  the 
unhappy  inmates.  A  thirst  for  blood  had  seized  the  popu- 
lace, and  women  eagerly  occupied  the  seats  placed  where 
they  could  witness  this  carnival  of  murder. 

Battle  of  Valmy  (1792).— In  the  midst  of  these  terrible 


*  It  was  called  the  Mountain,  because  its  members  occupied  the  highest  seats  in 
the  hall ;  the  name  Jacobin,  however,  was  commonly  applied,  that  being  the  most 
powerful  organization. 


1792.]  THE     FREKCH     REVOLUTIOIf.  543 

events,  the  Prussian  army  was  checked  at  Valmy,  and,  soon 
after,  it  recrossed  the  frontier.  The  victory  of  Jemmapes 
over  the  Austrians  followed,  and  Belgium  was  proclaimed  a 
republic. 

The  effect  of  these  successes  was  electrical.  The  leaders 
of  the  revolution  were  elated,  and  the  nation  was  encouraged 
to  enter  upon  a  career  of  conquest  chat  ultimately  led  it  to 
the  Kremlin. 

The  National  Convention. — The  next  Assembly  estab- 
lished a  republic  in  France.  '^  Louis  Capet,"  as  they  insisted 
upon  styling  the  king,  was  arraigned,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
timid  opposition  of  the  Girondists,  was  condemned  and 
guillotined.  The  bleeding  head  of  the  gentle  monarch  fell 
amid  savage  shouts  of  Vive  la  Republique ! 

2.    THE  RETGN  OF  TERROR  (1793-'4). 

Jacobin  Rule. —  Nearly  all  Europe  leagued  to  avenge 
Louis's  death.  England  was  the  soul  of  this  Coalition,  and 
freely  gave  to  it  her  gold  and  arms.  The  royalists  held 
Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  Lyons,  and  Toulon.  An  insurrection 
burst  out  in  the  province  of  La  Vendee.  But  the  terrible 
energy  of  the  Convention  broke  down  all  opposition.  A 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  was  appointed  which  knew 
neither  fear  nor  pity.  Revolutionary  tribunals  were  set  up, 
before  which  were  dragged  those  suspected  of  moderation  or 
of  sympathy  with  the  "aristocrats."  Every  morning  the 
tumbrils  carried  to  the  place  of  execution  the  victims  of  the 
day.  Marie  Antoinette,  prematurely  gray,  mounted  the 
same  scaffold  on  which  her  husband  had  perished.  The 
Girondists  were  overwhelmed  in  the  ruin  they  had  aided  in 
creating.  At  Lyons,  the  work  of  the  guillotine  proved  too 
tedious,  and  the  victims  were  mowed  down  by  grape-shot ; 
at  Nantes,  boat-loads  were  rowed  out  and  sunk  in  the  Loire. 


544  THE     ETGHTEEKTH     CEKtUHY.  [I793. 


GIRONDISTS    ON    THE     WAY    TO     EXECUTION. 

In  the  midst  of  the  carnage  a  new  calendar  was  instituted,  to  date 
from  September  22,  1792,  which  was  to  be  the  first  day  of  the  year 
1,  the  epoch  of  the  foundation  of  the  republic.  Ne^y  names  were 
given  to  the  months  and  days  ;  Sunday  was  abolished,  and  every  tenth 
day  appointed  for  rest  and  amusement.  Worship  was  prohibited. 
Churches  and  convents  were  desecrated,  plundered,  and  burned.  Mar- 
riage was  declared  to  be  only  a  civil  contract,  which  might  be  broken  at 
pleasure.  Notre  Dame  was  converted  into  a  Temple  of  Reason,  and  a 
gaudily-dressed  woman,  wearing  a  red  cap  of  liberty,  was  enthroned  as 
goddess.  Over  the  entrance  to  the  cemeteries  were  inscribed  the  words : 
Death  is  an  eternal  sleep. 


Fate  of  the  Terrorists. — Marat  had  already  perished 
—stabbed  by  Charlotte  Corday,  a  young  girl  who  gladly 
gave  up  her  life  to  lid  her  country  of  this  monster.  Danton 
now  showing  signs  of  relenting,  his  ruthless  associates 
sent  him  to  the  scaffold.  For  nearly  four  dreadful  months 
Kobespierre  ruled  supreme.  He  aimed  to  destroy  all  the 
other,  leaders.     The  axe  plied  faster  than  ever  as  he  went 


1794.] 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTIOlf. 


545 


KOBESPIEKRE. 


on  "purging  society"  by  mur-  . 
der.  The  accused  were  forbid- 
den defence,  and  tried  en  masse.* 
At  lust,  impelled  by  a  common 
fear,  friends  and  foes  combined 
to  overthrow  the  tyrant.  A  fu- 
rious struggle  ensued.  When 
Robespierre's  head  fell  (July 
28,  1794),  the  Eeign  of  Terror 
ended. 

A  Reaction  now  set  in. 
The  revolutionary  clubs  were 
abolished ;     the     prison     doors 

were  flung  wide  ;  the  churches  were  opened ;  the  surviving 
Girondists  were  recalled,  and  the  emigrant  priests  and 
nobles  invited  to  return. 

Triumph  of  the  French  Arms  (1794-'95).— While  the 
Terrorists  were  sending  long  lines  of  victims  to  the  scaffold, 
the  defenders  of  the  new  republic  were  pouring  toward  the 
threatened  frontiers.  During  the  pauses  of  the  guillotine,  all 
Paris  accompanied  the  troops  outside  the  city  gates,  shouting 
the  Marseillaise.  Pichegru,  Hoche,  Jourdan,  and  Moreau 
led  the  republican  armies  to  continued  success.  La  Vendee 
was  pacified,  Belgium  overrun,  and  the  Rhine  held  from 
Worms  to  Nimeguen.  Even  winter  did  not  stop  the  prog- 
ress of  the  French  arms.  Pichegru  led  his  troops  across  the 
Meuse  upon  the  ice,  and,  conquering  Holland  without  a  bat- 
tle, organized  the  Batavian  Republic.  Peace  was  made  with 
Prussia  and  Spain,  but  England  and  Austria  continued  the 
war. 


*  In  the  national  archives  of  Paris,  the  author  has  seen  an  order  of  execution 
which  was  signed  in  blank  and  afterward  filled  up  with  the  names  of  twenty-seveij 
persons,  one  of  them  a  boy  of  sixteen. 


546 


THE     EIGHTEE^^TH     CENTURY. 


[1795. 


COSTUMES    OF    THE    THREE    ORDERS. 


Establishment    of   the    Directory. — It  had    become 

apparent  that  the 
union  in  one  legis- 
lative house  of  the 
three  orders  in  the 
States-General  was  a 
mistake.  It  was, 
therefore,  decided  to 
have  a  Council  of 
Five  Hundred  to 
propose"  laws,  and  a 
Council  of  the  A71- 
cients  to  pass  or  to 
reject  them.  The 
executive  power  was 
lodged  in  a  Directory  of  five  persons. 

The  Day  of  the  Sections  (October  5,  1795).— The  Con- 
vention,  in  order  to  secure  its  work,  decreed  that  two-thirds 
of  each  Council  should  be  appointed  from  its  own  number. 
Thereupon,  the  royalists  excited  the  Sections  (as  the  munici- 
pal divisions  of  Paris  were  called)  to  rise  in  arms.  General 
Barras  (ra),  who  was  in  command  of  the  defence,  called  to 
his  aid  Napoleon  Buonaparte.*     This  young  officer  skilfully 

*  Napoleon  Buonaparte  was  born  at  Ajaccio,  Corsica,  August  15, 1769,  two  months 
after  the  conquest  of  that  island  by  the  French.  (It  is  claimed,  however,  that,  not  wish- 
ing to  be  foreign-bom,  he  changed  the  date  of  his  birth.)  His  father  Charles  Buona 
parte,  was  a  law-  ^.^ 

yer    of    straitened  /ji 

means.      We  read         /  /  J 

plaything    was    a  y  'C 

small     brass    can-  -.^^^^  j  — 

non,  and    that   he      fac-simile   of  the  signature  of  napoleon   buonaparte, 
loved  to  drill    the  musee  des  archives  nationales,  paris. 

children      of     the 
peighborhood  to  battle  with  stopes  ftnd  wooden  sabres.    At  ten,  he  was  sent  to  the 


1795] 


THE     FKENCH     REVOLUTIOK. 


547 


posted  his  troops  about  the  Tuileries,  and  planted  cannon 
to  rake  the  approaches.  His  pitiless  guns  put  the  insurgents 
to  flight,  leaving  five  hundred  of  their  number  on  the  pave- 
ment. It  was  the  last  insurrection  of  the  people.  Their 
master  had  come,  and  street  tumults  were  at  an  end. 


of 


3.    DIRECTORY 

the 


The    Glory 

Directory  lay  in  the 
achievements  ot  its  sol- 
diers. Napoleon  Buona- 
parte, though  only 
twenty-six  years  old,  was 
put  at  the  head  of  the 
army  which  was  to  in- 
vade Italy,  then  defended 
by  the  Austrian  and  Pied- 
montese  armies.  Hence- 
forth, for  nearly  twenty 
years,  his  life  is  the  his- 
tory of  France,  almost 
that  of  Europe. 

Italian  Campaign  (1796- 7).— Buonaparte  found,  at  Nice, 
the  French  army  of  thirty-eight  thousand  men  destitute  of 

military  school  at  Brienne.  Resolute,  quarrelsome,  gloomy,  not  much  liked  by 
his  companions,  he  lived  apart ;  but  he  was  popular  with  his  teachers,  and  became 
the  head  scholar  in  mathematics.  At  sixteen,  he  went  to  Paris  to  complete  his 
studies.  Poor  and  proud,  discontented  with  his  lot,  tormented  by  the  first  stirrings 
of  genius,  he  became  a  misanthrope.  He  entered  the  army  as  lieutenant,  and  first 
distinguished  himself  during  the  siege  of  Toulon.  By  skilfully  planting  his  batteries, 
he  drove  off  the  English  fleet  and  forced  the  surrender  of  that  city.  A  few  days 
after  the  disarming  of  the  Sections,  Eiigone  Beauhamais,  a  boy  of  ten  years,  came 
to  Buonaparte  to  claim  the  sword  of  his  father,  who  had  fallen  on  the  scaffold  during 
the  revolution.  Touched  by  his  tears,  Buonaparte  ordered  the  sword  to  be  given 
him.  This  led  to  a  call  from  Madame  do  Beauhamais.  The  beauty,  wit,  and  grace 
of  the  Creole  widow  won  the  heart  of  the  Corsican  general.  Their  mutual  friend, 
Barras,  promised  them,  as  a  marriage  gift,  Buonaparte's  appointment  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  of  Italy. 


NAPOLEON    BUONAPARTE. 


548  THE     EIGHTEENTH     CEi^TURY.  [1796. 

everything,  while  in  front  was  a  well-equipped  force  of  sixty 
thousand.  But  he  did  not  hesitate.  Issuing  one  of  those 
electrical  proclamations  for  which  he  was  afterward  so 
famous,  he  suddenly  forced  the  passes  of  Montenotte,  and 
pierced  the  center  of  the  enemy's  line.  He  had  now  placed 
himself  between  the  Piedmontese  and  the  Austrians,  and 
could  follow  either.  He  pursued  the  former  to  within  ten 
leagues  of  Turin,  when  the  king  of  Sardinia,  trembling  for 
his  crown  and  capital,  stopped  the  conqueror  by  an  armistice, 
which  was  soon  converted  into  a  peace,  giving  up  to  France 
his  strongholds  and  the  passes  of  the  Alps. 

Battle  of  iyOc?^. —Delivered  from  one  foe,  Buonaparte 
turned  upon  the  other.  At  Lodi,  he  found  the  Austrians 
strongly  intrenched  upon  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Adda. 
Charging  at  the  head  of  his  grenadiers,  amid  a  tempest  of 
shot  and  ball,  he  crossed  the  bridge  and  bayoneted  the  can- 
noneers at  their  guns.  The  Austrians  fled  for  refuge  into 
the  Tyrol  mountains. 

Authorized  Pillage. — Then  commenced  a  system  of 
spoliation  unknown  to  modern  warfare.  Not  only  was  war 
to  support  war,  but  also  to  enrich  the  victor.  Contributions 
were  levied  upon  the  vanquished  states.  A  body  of  savants 
was  sent  into  Italy  to  select  the  treasures  of  art  from  each 
conquered  city.  The  Pope  was  forced  to  give  twenty-one 
millions  of  francs,  one  hundred  pictures,  and  five  hundred 
manuscripts.  The  wants  of  the  army  were  supplied,  and 
millions  of  money  forwarded  to  Paris.  The  officers  and 
commissioners  seized  provisions,  horses,  etc.,  without  pay. 
A  swarm  of  jobbers,  contractors,  and  speculators  hovered 
about  the  army,  and  gorged  themselves  to  repletion.  The 
Italians,  weary  of  the  Austrian  yoke,  at  first  welcomed  the 
French,  but  soon  found  that  their  new  masters,  who  came 
as  brothers,  plundered  them  like  robbers. 


1796.] 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


549 


BUONAPARTE    AT    THE    BRIDGE    OF    ARCOLE. 


Battles  of  Gastiglione  and  Bassano. — Sixty  thousand  Aus- 
trians,  under  Wurmser,  were  now  marching  in  separate  divi- 
sions on  opposite  sides  of  Lake  Garda,  in  order  to  envelop 
the  French  in  their  superior  numbers.  Buonaparte,  throw- 
ing all  his  strength  first  to  the  left,  checked  the  force  on  the 
western  bank  ;  then  turning  to  the  right,  routed  the  main 
body  at  Castiglione.  Wurmser  fell  back  into  the  Tyrol. 
Eeinforced,  he  made  a  new  essay.  But  ere  he  could  debouch 
from  the  passes,  Buonaparte  plunged  into  the  gorges  of  the 
mountains,  and  defeated  him  again  at  Bassano. 

Battle  of  Ar cole. — Two  Austrian  armies  had  disappeared  ; 
a  third  now  arrived  under  Alvinzi.     Leaving  Verona  with 


550  THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY.  [1796. 

only  fourteen  thousand  men,  Buonaparte  took  the  road  for 
Milan.  It  was  the  route  to  France.  Suddenly  turning  to 
the  north,  he  descended  the  Adige,  crossed  the  river,  and 
placed  his  army  in  the  midst  of  a  marsh,  traversed  only  by 
two  causeways.  Fighting  on  these  narrow  roads,  numbers 
were  of  no  account.  At  the  bridge  of  Arcole,  Buonaparte, 
seeing  his  grenadiers  hesitate,  seized  a  banner,  and  exclaim- 
ing, "Follow  your  general,"  rushed  forward.  Borne  back 
in  the  arms  of  his  soldiers,  during  the  welee  he  fell  into  the 
marsh,  and  was  with  difficulty  rescued.  A  ford  was  finally 
found  and  the  bridge  was  turned.  A  fearful  struggle  of  three 
days  ensued,  when  the  Austrians,  half  destroyed,  were  put  to 
flight. 

Battle  of  Rivoli. — Alvinzi,  reinforced,  again  descended 
into  Italy.  The  principal  army  advanced  in  two  columns, 
the  infantry  in  one  and  the  cavalry  and  artillery  in  the  other. 
Buonaparte  saw  that  the  only  point  where  they  could  unite 
was  on  the  plateau  of  Rivoli.  As  they  debouched,  he 
launched  upon  them  Joubert,  and  then  Mass^na.*  Both  of 
the  enemy's  columns  recoiled  in  inextricable  confusion. 

Having  vanquished  three  imperial  armies  in  Italy,  Buona- 
parte next  crossed  the  Alps,  and  advanced  upon  Vienna. 
The  Austrian  government,  in  consternation,  asked  for  a  sus- 
pension of  arms. 

The  Treaty  of  Campo  Formio  (1797)  closed  this  famous 
campaign.  Belgium  was  ceded  to  France,  with  the  long- 
coveted  boundary  of  the  Rhine.  Austria  was  allowed  to  take 
Venice  and  its  dependencies. 

Neighboring  Republics. — The  Directory  endeavored 
to   control  the  neighboring  states  as  if  they  were  French 

*  Mass6na's  division  fought  at  Verona  on  the  13th  of  January,  marched  all  that 
night  to  help  Joubert  who  was  exhausted  by  forty -eight-hours  fighting,  was  in  the 
battle  of  Rivoli  the  14th,  and  marched  that  night  and  the  15th  to  reach  Mantua  on  the 
16th.  Marches,  which  with  ordinary  generals  were  merely  the  movements  of  troops, 
with  Buonaparte  meant  battles,  and  often  decided  the  fate  of  a  campaign. 


1798.J 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION. 


551 


provinces;  to  change  their  form  of  government ;  and  to 
exact  enormous  contributions.  At  the  close  of  1798,  the 
Directory  found  itself  at  the  head  of  no  less  than  six  repub- 
lics, including  Holland,  Switzerland,  and  Italy. 


THE   PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT. 


An  Expedition  to  Egypt  (1798-9)  ha^^ng  been  pro- 
posed by  Buonaparte,  the  plan  was  gladly  accepted  by  the 
Directory,  already  jealous  of  his  rising  fame.  The  conqueror 
of  Italy  set  sail  with  thirty-six  thousand  men — the  heroes  of 
Rivoli  and  Arcole.  Narrowly  escaping  the  English  cruisers 
under  Nelson,  the  army  safely  landed  near  Alexandria.* 
Buonaparte  at  once  pushed  on  to  Cairo,  defeating  the  Mame- 
lukes under  the  shadow  of  the  Pyramids,  f  But,  soon  after. 
Nelson  annihilated  the  French  fleet  in  the  Bay  of  Aboukir. 
Cut  off  thus  from  Europe,  Buonaparte,  dreaming  of  found- 
ing an  empire  in  the  East  and  overthrowing  the  British  rule 
in  India,  turned  into  Syria.  The  walls  of  Acre,  however, 
manned  by  English  sailors  under  Sidney  Smith,  checked 
his  progress ;   and,  after  defeating  the  Turks  with  terrible 

*  During  this  occupation  of  Egypt  a  French  engineer  discovered  the  Rosetta 
stone— the  key  to  reading  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics.    (See  p.  22.) 

t  "  Soldiers."  exclaimed  Buonaparte,  '•  from  yonder  pyramids  forty  centarjes }Qok 
down  upon  you," 


552 


THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY. 


[1798. 


slaughter  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Tabor,  he  retreated  across 
the  desert  to  Egypt.  There  he  secretly  abandoned  his 
army,  and  returned  to  France. 

At  Paris  he  was  gladly  welcomed.  ^*  Their  Five  Majes- 
ties of  the  Luxemburg,"  as  the  Directors  were  styled,  had 
twice  resorted  to  a  coup 
(Teiat^  to  preserve  their 
authority  in  the  Coun- 
cils. Foreign  disgrace 
had  been  added    to    do- 


BUONAPARTE    BEFORE    THE    COUNCIL    OF     FIVE     HUNDRED. 

mestic  anarchy.  A  Second  Coalition  (composed  of  England, 
Austria,  Russia,  etc.)  having  been  formed  against  France, 
the  fruits  of  Campo  Formio  had  been  quickly  lost.  The 
French  armies,  forced  back  upon  the  frontier,  were  in  want. 
A  panic  of  fear  seized  the  people.  The  hero  of  Italy  offered 
the  only  hope.     A  new  coup  d^etat  was  planned.     Buona- 


*  This  is  a  word  for  which  as  yet,  happily,  we  have  no  English  equivalent.    It  jbs 
literally,  "astroke-of-stftte," 


1799.]  THE     CIVILIZATIOK.  653 

parte's  grenadiers  drove  the  members  of  the  Council  of  Five 
Hundred  from  their  chamber,  as  Cromwell's  soldiers  had 
driven  the  Long  Parliament  a  century  and  a  half  before. 
The  roll  of  the  drums  drowned  the  last  cry  of  Vive  la 
RepuUique. 

A  new  Constitution  was  now  adopted.  The  government 
was  to  consist  of  a  Council  of  State,  a  Tribune,  a  Legisla- 
ture, a  Senate,  and  three  Consuls  —  Buonaparte  and  two 
others  named  by  him.  In  February,  1800,  the  First  Consul 
took  up  his  residence  in  the  Tuileries.  The  revolution  had 
culminated  in  a  despot. 

THE    CIVILIZATION. 

The  Progress  of  Letters.— Queen  Anne's  reign  was  the 
Augustan  Age  of  English  Literature.  Questions  of  party  politics, 
society,  life,  and  character  were  discussed  ;  and  wit,  ridicule,  and  satire 
were  employed  as  never  before.  The  aflfluence  of  the  old  school  of 
authors  gave  way  to  correctness  of  form  and  taste.  Pope's  Essay  on 
Man,  and  Essay  on  Criticism,  with  their  "  sonorous  couplets  brilliant  with 
antithesis,"  are  yet  admired.  Swift's  Gulliver's  Travels  satirized  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  time.  Addison  and  Steele  in  their  periodi- 
cals— the  Tattler  and  the  Spectator — popularized  literature,  and  "  brought 
philosophy,"  as  Steele  expressed  it,  "  out  of  libraries,  schools,  and  col- 
leges, to  dwell  in  clubs,  at  tea-tables,  and  in  coffee-houses."  The  style 
of  Addison  was  long  considered  a  model  of  graceful,  elegant  prose.  De 
Foe's  Robinson  Crusoe  still  charms  the  heart  of  every  boy. 

Samuel  Johnson,  with  his  ponderous  periods,  is  to  us  the  principal 
figure  of  English  literature  from  about  the  middle  of  the  18th  century. 
In  his  English  Dictionary,  he  was  the  first  author  who  appealed  for  sup- 
port directly  to  the  public  and  not  to  some  great  man.  He  established  a 
republic  of  letters,  and  long  held  in  London  a  sort  of  court  in  which  he 
ruled  as  undisputed  king.  Literature  had  begun  to  take  its  present 
form  ;  newspapers  commenced  to  play  a  part ;  a  new  class  of  men  arose — 
the  journalists  ;  and  authorship  assumed  fresh  impulses  on  every  hand. 
Richardson,  Fielding,  and  Smollett  laid  the  foundation  of  the  modem 
novel.  Thompson's  Seasons;  Gray's  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard; 
Goldsmith's  Traveller,  and  The  Deserted  Village  ;  Cowper's  Task ;  and 
Burns's  The  Cotter's  Saturday  N^ight,  were  familiar  stepping-stones  in  the 
progress  of  poetry  into  a  new  world,  that  of  Nature.     Burke,   by  his 


564 


THE     EI(5^HTE  E:N"TH     CENTURY, 


sounding  sentences  and  superb  rlietoric,  made  the  power  of  letters  felt 
by  every  class  in  society.  Hume  wrote  the  History  of  England  ;  and 
Robertson,  that  of  Charles  V. — the  first  literary  histories  in  our  language. 
Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  elevated  historical 
study  to  the  accuracy  of  a  scientific  treatise.  Adam  Smith's  Wealth  of 
Nations  founded  the  science  of  Political  Economy. 

In  France,  the  18th  century  was  pre-eminently  an  age  of  infidelity 
and  skepticism.  Yoltaire,  Rousseau,  Montesquieu,  as  well  as  Diderot, 
D'Alembert,  and  the  other  liberal  thinkers  who  wrote  upon  the  En- 
cyclopedia, while  tliey  urged  the  doctrines  of  freedom  and  the  natural 
rights  of  man,  recklessly  assaulted  time-honored  creeds  and  institutions. 

In  Germany,  the  efforts  of  Lessing,  Winckelmann,  Klopstock,  and 
other  patriots,  had  created  a  reaction  against  French  influence.  The 
"  Twin  Sons  of  Jove,"  as  their  countrymen  liked  to  call  them — Schiller, 
with  his  impassioned  lyrics,  and  Goethe,  one  of  the  profoundest  poets 
of  any  age  or  country — elevated  German  literature  to  a  classical  per- 
fection. The  philosophical  spirit  gathered  strength  from  this  triumph, 
and  gave  birth  to  those  four  great  teachers — Kant,  Fichte,  Hegel,  and 
Schelling — who  afterward  laid  the  foundation  of  German  metaphysics. 

Both  the  French  and  the  German  writers  exerted  a  powerful  effect 
upon  England,  and,  from  the  dawn  of  the  French  Revolution  far  into 
the  19th  century,  produced  a  remarkable  outburst  of  literature.    The 


THE     CIVILIZATION.  555 

pliilosopliie  mind  finds  congenial  employment  in  tracing  their  respec- 
tive influence  upon  the  writings  of  Scott,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge, 
Soutliey,  Moore,  Shelley,  and  Byron, — all  of  whom  burned  to  redress 
the  wrongs  of  man,  and  dreamed  of  a  golden  age  of  human  perfection. 
Science  now  spread  so  rapidly  on  every  side  that  one  strains  his 
eyes  in  vain  to  trace  the  expanding  stream.  Chemistry  took  on  its  pres- 
ent form.  Black  discovered  carbonic  acid  gas  ;  Cavendish,  hydrogen 
gas;  Priestly  and  Scheele,  oxygen  gas ;  and  Rutherford,  the  properties 
of  nitrogen  gas.  Lavoissier  proved  that  respiration  and  combustion  are 
merely  forms  of  oxidation,  and  he  was  thus  able  to  create  an  orderly- 
nomenclature  for  the  science.  Physics  was  enriched  by  Black's  dis- 
covery of  the  latent  heat  of  melting  ice.  Franklin,  experimenting  with 
his  kite,  imprisoned  the  thunderbolt.  Galvani,  seeing  the  twitching  of 
some  frogs'  legs  that  were  hanging  from  iron  hooks,  found  out  the  mys- 
terious galvanism.  Volta  invented  a  way  of  producing  electricity  by 
chemical  action,  and  of  carrying  the  current  through  a  wire  both  endsot 
which,  were  connected  with  the  battery.  Dollond  invented  the  achro- 
matic lens  that  gives  the  value  to  our  telescope  and  microscope.  Fah- 
renheit. Reaumur,  and  Celsius  first  marked  off  the  degrees  upon  the 
thermometer  (see  Steele's  Physics,  p.  186),  and  so  gave  science  an  instru- 
ment of  precision.  In  Astronomy,  Lagrange  proved  the  self-regulating, 
and,  therefore,  permanent  nature  of  the  orbits  of  the  planets ;  Laplace, 
in  his  Mecanique  Celeste,  pushed  still  further  Newton's  theory  of  gravi- 
tation and  explained  the  anomalies  in  its  application  ;  and,  finally, 
Herschel,  with  his  wonderful  telescope,  detected  a  planet  (Uranus,  see 
Steele's  Astronomy,  p.  189)  called  for  by  this  law,  and  in  the  cloudy 
nebulae  found  the  workings  of  this  same  universal  force.  Natural 
History  was  popularized  by  Buffon,  who  gathered  many  new  facts,  and 
detected  the  influence  of  climate  and  geography  upon  the  distribution 
of  animals.  Lamarck  began  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  theory  of 
evolution.  Cuvier  found  out  the  relation  of  the  different  parts  of  an 
animal,  so  that  from  a  single  bone  he  could  restore  the  entire  structure. 
Hutton  taught  how  by  watching  the  changes  now  going  on  in  the 
earth's  crust  we  are  to  detect  nature's  mode  of  making  the  world,  or 
the  science  of  Geology.  Linnaeus,  by  the  system  still  called  from  his 
name,  gave  to  Botany  its  first  orderly  arrangement. 

Progress  of  Invention.— In  1705,  Newcomen  and  Cawley 
patented  in  England  the  first  steam-engine  worth  the  name  ;  and  James 
Watt  in  1765  invented  the  condenser  that,  with  other  improvements, 
rendered  this  machine  commercially  successful.  The  application  of 
steam-power  to  machinery  wrought  a  revolution  in  commerce,  manufac- 
tures, arts,  and  social  life,  and  immensely  aided  in  the  progress  of  civil- 
ization. The  difference  between  the  mechanical  workmanship  of  the 
18th  and  19th  centuries  may  be  seen  in  the  almost  incredible  fact  that 
Watt,  in  making  his  first  engine,  found  his  greatest  difficulty  from  the 


556  THE     EIGHTEENTH     CEKTURY. 

iinpossMlity  of  boring,  with  the  imperfect  tools  then  in  use,  a  cylinder 
that  was  steam-tight.  Before  the  end  of  the  century,  several  trial  steam- 
boats were  made,  both  in  Europe  and  in  America,  and,  ere  long,  as  every 
school-boy  knows,  Fulton  navigated  tlie  Hudson  regularly. 

Until  the  16th  century,  spinning  was^  done  by  the  distaff,  as  it  had 
been  from  Homer's  time.  The  spinning-wheel  of  our  ancestors  was  the 
first  improvement.  Hargreaves  about  1767  combined  a  number  of 
spindles  in  the  spinning-jenny  (so  named  after  his  wife).  Arkwright 
soon  after  patented  the  spinning-mill  driven  by  water;  and  in  1779 
Crompton  completed  the  mule,  or  carriage  for  winding  and  spinning. 
In  1787,  Cartwright  invented  the  power-loom.  Eli  Whitney,  six  years 
later,  made  the  cotton-gin.  Such  was  the  impetus  given  to  cotton  rais- 
ing and  manufacture  by  these  inventions  that,  while  in  1784  an  invoice 
of  eight  bags  of  cotton  was  confiscated  at  Liverpool  on  the  ground  that 
cotton  was  not  a  product  of  the  United  States,  fifty  years  afterward  we 
sent  to  England  230,000,000  pounds  of  cotton. 

ENGLAND  A  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGO. 

The  law  recognized  two  h  iindred  and  twenty-three  capital  crimes. 
For  stealing  to  the  value  of  five  shillings,  for  shooting  at  rabbits,  or 
for  cutting  down  young  trees,  the  penalty  was  death.  I'raitors  were 
cut  in  pieces  by  the  executioner,  and  their  heads  exposed  on  Temple 
Bar  to  the  derision  of  passers-by.  Prisoners  were  forced  to  buy  from 
the  jailer  (who  had  no  salary)  their  food  and  even  the  straw  upon  which  to 
lie  at  night.  They  were  allowed  to  stand,  chained  by  the  ankle,  outside 
the  jail,  to  sell  articles  of  their  own  manufacture.  Thus,  John  Bunyan 
sold  cotton  lace  in  front  of  Bedford  prison.  The  grated  windows  were 
crowded  by  miserable  wretches  begging  for  alms.  Many  innocent  per- 
sons were  confined  for  years  because  they  could  not  pay  their  jail  fees. 
In  1773,  Howard  began  his  philanthropic  labors  in  behalf  of  prison 
reform,  but  years  elapsed  before  the  evils  he  revealed  were  corrected. 
On  the  continent,  torture  was  still  practised ;  the  prisons  of  Hanover, 
for  example,  had  machines  for  tearing  off"  the  hair  of  the  convict. 

A  general  coarseness  and  brutality  existed  in  society.  Mas- 
ters beat  their  servants  and  husbands  their  wives,daily.  Swearing  was 
common  with  ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen.  Lawyers  swore  at  the  bar  ; 
judges,  on  the  bench ;  women,  in  their  letters ;  and  the  king,  on  his 
throne.  No  entertainment  was  complete  unless  the  guests  became 
stupidly  drunk.  Children  of  five  years  of  age  were  habitually  put 
to  labor,  and  often  driven  to  their  work  by  blows.  In  mines,  women 
and  children,  crawling  on  their  hands  and  feet  in  the  darkness,  dragged 
wagons  of  coal  fastened  to  their  waists  by  a  chain.  Military  and  naval 
discipline  was  maintained  by  the  lash,  and,  in  the  streets  of  every  sea- 
port, the  press-gang  seized  and  carried  off  by  force  whom  it  pleased, 
to  be  sailors  on  the  men-of-war. 


THE     CIVILIZATION.  557 

London  streets  were  lighted  only  in  winter  and  until  midnight, 
by  dim  oil-lamps.  The  services  of  a  link-boy  with  his  blazing  torch 
were  needed  to  light  one  home  after  dark  ;  since  footpads  lurked  at  ■'he 
lonely  corners,  and,  worst  of  all,  bands  of  aristocratic  young  men  (known 
as  Mohocks,  from  the  Mohawk  Indians)  sauntered  to  and  fro,  overturn- 
ing coaches,  pricking  men  with  their  swords,  rolling  women  down-hill 
in  a  barrel,  and  sometimes  brutally  maiming  their  victims  for  life. 

In  the  country,  the  roads  were  so  bad  that  winter  traveling  was 
well  nigh  impossible.  The  stage-coach  (with  its  armed  guards  to  pro- 
tect it  from  highwaymen)  rattling  along  in  good  weather  at  four  miles 
per  hour,  was  considered  a  wonderful  instance  of  the  progress  of  the 
times.  Lord  Campbell  accomplished  the  journey  from  Edinburgh  to 
London  in  three  days  ;  but  his  friends  warned  him  of  the  dangers  of 
such  an  attempt,  and  gravely  told  him  of  persons  venturing  it  who  had 
died  from  the  very  rapidity  of  the  motion.  Each  town  dwelt  apart, 
following  its  own  customs  and  knowing  little  of  the  great  world  outside. 
There  were  villages  so  secluded  that  a  stranger  was  considered  an  ene- 
my, and  the  inhabitants  set  their  dogs  upon  him.  Each  householder 
in  the  country  grew  his  own  wool  or  flax,  which  his  wife  and  daughters 
colored  with  dyes  of  their  own  gathering,  and  spun,  wove,  and  made 
into  garments  themselves. 

Education. — In  all  England  there  were  only  about  three  thousand 
schools,  public  and  private,  and,  so  late  as  1818,  half  of  the  children 
grew  up  destitute  of  education.  The  usual  instruction  of  a  gentleman 
was  very  superficial,  consisting  of  a  little  Latin,  less  Greek,  and  a  good 
deal  of  dancing.  Female  education  was  even  more  deplorable,  and,  at 
fourteen  years  of  age,  the  young  lady  was  taken  out  of  school  and 
plunged  into  the  dissipations  of  fashionable  society.  Newspapers  were 
taxed  fourpence  each  copy,  mainly  to  render  them  too  costly  for  the 
poor,  and  so  restrain  what  was  considered  their  evil  influence  upon  the 


SUMMARY. 

The  18th  was  the  century  of  Marlborough,  Peter  the  Great,  Charles 
XII.,  Maria  Theresa,  William  Pitt,  the  Georges,  Louis  XVI.,  Marie  An- 
toinette, Robespierre,  Buonaparte,  Addison,  Steele,  Swift,  Pope,  Samuel 
Johnson,  Gibbon,  Burns,  Burke,  Voltaire,  Goethe,  Schiller,  Kant,  Ca- 
uova,  Handel,  Mozart,  Cuvier,  Franklin,  Laplace,  Lavoissier,  Galvani, 
Herschel,  Arkwright,  Watt,  and  Whitney.  It  saw  the  Wars  of  the  Span- 
ish, and  of  the  Austrian  Succession ;  the  Seven-Years  War ;  the  rise  of 
Russia,  and  of  Prussia;  the  American  Revolution;  the  Partition  of 
Poland  ;  and  the  opening  of  the  French  Revolution— including  the  exe- 
cution of  Louis  XVI.,  the  Reign  of  Terror,  and  Buonaparte's  Italian 
and  Egyptian  Campaigns. 


558 


THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY, 


READING    REFERENCES. 


The  General  Modern  Histories  named  on  p.  It29.  and  the  Special  Histories  of  Eng- 
land, France,  Germany,  etc.,  on  p.  UlS.—Lecky's  England  in  the  18th  Century.— Alli- 
son's History  of  Europe  (Tory  standpoint).— Voltaire's  Peter 'the  Great,  and  Charles 
XII.— Schuyler's  Peter  the  Great  {Scribner's  Magazine,  Vol.  XXl.).—  Carlyle''8 
Frederick  the  Great.— Longman'' s  Frederick  the  Great  and  the  Seven- Years  War. — 
Southey'^s  Battle  of  Blenheim  ( poem).—LacreteUe''s  History  of  France  during  the  18th 
Century.— De  Tocqueville's  France  before  the  Revolution.— The  French  Revolution 
{Epochs  of  History  Series.  The  Appendix  of  this  book  contains  an  excellent  resume 
of  reading  on  this  sulyect,  by  President  White,  which  every  student  should  examine)^ 
—Lamartine''s  History  of  the  Girondists.— Carlyle''s,  MigneVs,  Macfarlane''s,  Read- 
Mad' s,  MicheleVs,  Thiers' s,  and  Von  SybeVs  Histories  of  the  French  Revolution  — 
Lanfrey''s  History  of  Napoleon  {the  authority  upon  his  life).— Burke'' s  Reflections 
on  the  French  Revolution.— Lewises  Life  of  Robespierre.— Adams'' s  Democracy  and 
Monarchy  in  Finance  {excellent  and  d'lsoriminating).— Dickens's  Tale  of  Two  Cities 
{fiction).  — Thiers' s  Consulate  and  Empire.— Merrmrs  of  Madame  Campan,and  of 
Madame  Roland.— Erkmann-Chatr'ian's  Blockade,  Conscript,  Waterloo,  etc.  {fiction). 
—Abbott's,  Hazlitt's,  Scott's,  and  Jomini's  Life  of  Napoleon.— Ru^^sel's  Essay  on 
the  Cause  of  the  French Jterolution.— Mackintosh' s  Defence  of  the  French  Revolution.— 
Napier's  Peninsular  War.—Kavanagh's  Woman  in  France. — Davies's  Recollections 
of  Society  in  France.— ChaUice's  Illustrious  Women  of  France.— Citoyenne  Jacque- 
line or  a  Woman's  Lot  in  the  French  Revolution.— Madame  Junot's  {the  Duchesse 
D'Abrantes)  Memoirs  of  Napoleon,  his  Court  and  Family.— Correspondence  of  Tal- 
leyrand and  Louis  XVIII— Thackeray's  The  Four  Georges.— Madame  de  Remusat's 
Letters  {Napoleon's  character).— Memoirs  of  Prince  Mettemich  {1773-1829). 


CHRONOLOGY. 


A.  D. 

Battles  ot  Blenheim,    Ramilies, 

Oudenarde,  and  Malplaquet 1704-'9 

Union  of  England  and  Scotland. . .    1707 

Battle  of  Pultowa 1709 

Treaty  of  Utrecht 1713 

Guelphs  ascend  English  throne —     1714 
Charles  XII.  killed  at  Fredericshall    1718 

Frederick  the  Great,  Age  of .1740-'86 

Seven-Years  War 1756-'63 

First  Partition  of  Poland 1772 


A.D. 

American  Revolution 1775-'83 

Meeting  of  States-General 1789 

Attack  on  Tiiileries,  Aug.  10 1792 

Battle  of  Jemmapes 1792 

Louis  XVI.  guillotined,  Jan.  21 ; . . .     1793 

Reign  of  Terror 1793-'4 

Third  Partition  of  Poland 1795 

Napoleon's  Campaign  in  Italy 1796 

Battle  of  the  Nile 1798 

Buonaparte  First  Consul 1799 


CONTEMPORARY     SOVEREIGNS. 


ENGLAND. 

William     and 

Mary 1689 

Anne; 1702 

George  1 1714 

George  II. . .     1727 
George  III...  1760 


FRANCE. 

Louis  XTV....  1643 


Louis  XV. 


1715 


Louis  XVI...  1774 
Republic 1793 


GERMANY. 

Leopold  I. . . .  1658 

Joseph  1 1705 

Charles  Vr...  1711 

Charles  VII..  1742 

Francis  1 1745 

Joseph  II....  1765 

Leopold  II...  1790 

Francis  II —  1792 


PRUSSIA. 


Frederick  L..  1701 
William  1 1713 


Frederick  II..  1740 


William  n....  1786 
William  m..  1797 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION,  559 


THE   NINETEENTH   CENTURY. 

1.    FRANCE. 
FRENCH  REVOLUTION  {Continued)  *-A:.  THE  CONSULATE  (1800-1804). 

Austrian  War  (1800). — England,  regarding  Buonaparte 
as  an  usurper,  refused  to  make  peace,  and  hostilities  soon 
began.  The  First  Consul  was  eager  to  renew  the  glories  of 
his  Italian  campaign.  Pouring  his  army  over  the  Alps,  he 
descended  upon  Lombardy  like  an  avalanche.  The  Aus- 
triaus,  however,  quickly  rallied  from  their  surprise,  and, 
unexpectedly  attacking  him  upon  the  plain  of  Marengo, 
swept  all  before  them.  At  this  juncture,  Desaix,  w^ho,  with 
his  division,  had  hastened  thither  at  the  sound  of  cannon, 
dashed  upon  the  advancing  column,  but  fell  in  the  charge. 
Just  then,  Kellerman,  seeing  the  opportunity,  hurled  his 
terrible  dragoons  upon  the  flank  of  the  column,  and  the 
Austrians  broke  and  fled. 

Effect. — This  single  battle  restored  northern  Italy  to  its 
conqueror.  Meantime,  General  Moreau  had  driven  back  the 
Austrian  army  in  Germany,  step  by  step,  and  now,  gaining  a 
victory  in  the  gloomy  forest  of  Hohenlvnden,  he  pressed  for- 
ward to  the  gates  of  Vienna.  The  frightened  monarch 
consented  to 

The  Treaty  of  Luneville,  which  was  nearly  like  that  of 
Campo  Formic.  England  did  'not  make  peace  until  the 
next  year,  when  Pitt's  retirement  from  office  paved  the  way 
to  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  (1802). 

Government — "  I  shall  now  give  myself  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  France,"  s'aid  Buonaparte.  The  opportunity  for 
reorganization  was  a  rare  one.     Feudal  shackles  had  been 

*  The  pupil  will  bear  in  mind  that  the  French  Resolution,  which  began  in 
1789  (p.  230),  lasted  until  the  Restoration  of  the  Boukbons  in  1814-1815,  thus 
being  the  opening  event  of  the  present  century. 


1803-'6.]-  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


561 


thrown  off,  land  had  been  set  free,  and  the  nation  had  per- 
fect confidence  in  its  briUiant  leader.  Commerce,  agricul- 
ture, manufactures,  education,  religion,  arts,  and  sciences, — 
each  received  his  careful  thought.  He  restored  the  Catholic 
Church  in  accord- 
ance with  the  cele- 
brated Concordat 
(1801),  whereby 
the  Pope  re- 
nounced all  claim 
to  the  lands  con- 
fiscated by  the 
revolution,  and 
the  government 
agreed  to  provide 
for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  clergy.  He  established  a  uniform  system  of 
weights  and  measures,  known  as  the  Metric  System  (1801). 
He  fused  the  conflicting  laws  into  what  is  still  called  the 
Napoleonic  Code.  He  abolished  the  fantastic  republican 
calendar  (1806).  He  erected  magnificent  bridges  across 
the  Seine.  He  created  the  Legion  of  Honor,  to  reward 
distinguished  merit.  He  repaired  the  roads  and  built  new 
ones,  among  which  was  the  magnificent  route  over  the 
Simplon  Pass  into  Italy,  even  now  the  wonder  of  travelers. 


THE    TEMPLE     OF    GLORY. 


FRENCH   REVOLUTION  {Continued). -5.  THE   EMPIRE  (1804-'14). 

Buonaparte  becomes  Emperor. — So  general  was  the 
confidence  inspired  in  France  by  Buonaparte's  administra- 
tion, and  so  fascinated  was  the  nation  by  his  military  achieve- 
ments, that,  though  he  recklessly  violated  the  liberties  of  the 
people  and  the  rights  of  neighboring  countries,  when  the 
senate  proclaimed  him  Emperor  Napoleon  I.,  the  popular 


562 


THE     NINETEEJJ-TH     CEKTURY 


[1804. 


vote  ratifying  it  showed  only  twenty-five  hundred  noes.  At 
the  coronation,  Pius  VII.  poured  on  the  head  of  the  kneehng 
sovereign  the  mystic  oil ;  but,  when  he  lifted  tlie  crown. 
Napoleon  took  it  from  his  hands,  placed  it  on  his  own  head, 

and  afterward  crowned 
Josephine,  Empress.  As 
the  hymn  was  sung 
which  Charlemagne 

heard  when  saluted  Em- 
peror of  the  Eomans, 
the  shouts  within  the 
walls  of  Notre  Dame 
reached  the  crowd  with- 
out, and  all  Paris  rung 
with  acclamation.  Cross- 
ing the  Alps,  the  new 
emperor  took,  at  Milan, 
the  iron  crown  of  the 
Lombards,  and  his  step- 
son, Eugene  Beauharnais,  received  the  title.  Viceroy  of  Italy. 
The  empire  of  Charlemagne  seemed  to  be  revived,  with  its 
seat  at  Paris  instead  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Campaign  of  Austerlitz. — A  Third  Coalition  (consist- 
ing of  England,  Austria,  and  Russia)  was  formed  to  resist 
the  ambitious  projects  of  ^^  The  soldier  of  fortune."  Napo- 
leon had  already  collected  at  Boulogne  an  admirably-dis- 
ciplined army  and  a  vast  fleet,  threatening  to  invade  Eng- 
land. Learning  that  Austria  had  taken  the  field,  he  suddenly 
threw  two  hundred  thousand  men  across  the  Rhine,  surprised 
and  captured  the  Austrian  army  at  Ulm,  and  entered  Vienna 
in  triumph.  Thence  pressing  forward,  he  met  the  Austro- 
Russian  force,  under  the  emperors  Francis  and  Alexander,  at 
the  heights  of 


EMPRESS    JOSEPHINE. 


1805.]  THE     FREl^CH     EEVOLUTIOi?^.  663 

Austerlitz  (1805). — With  ill-concealed  joy,  in  which  his 
soldiers  shared,  he  watched  the  allies  marching  their  troops 
past  the  front  of  the  French  position  in  order  to  turn  his 
right  flank.  Waiting  until  this  ruinous  movement  was  past 
recall,  he  suddenly  launched  his  eager  veterans  upon  the 
weakened  center  of  the  enemies'  line,  seized  the  plateau  of 
Pratzen — the  key  of  their  position,  isolated  their  left  wing, 
and  then  cut  up  their  entire  army  in  detail.  "  The  Sun  of 
Austerlitz  "  saw  the  coalition  go  down  in  crushing  defeat.* 

Treaty  of  Presburg.  —  After  the  ''Battle  of  the  three 
emperors,"  Francis  came  a  suppliant  into  the  conqueroi*'s 
t^t.  He  secured  peace  at  such  a  cost  of  territory  that  he 
surrendered  the  title  of  German  emperor  for  that  of  Emperor 
of  Austria  (1806).  Thus  ended  the  Holy  Eoman  Empire 
which  had  lasted  over  a  thousand  years  (p.  375). 

Battle  of  Trafalgar. — The  day  after  the  thunderstroke 
at  Ulm,  Nelson,  with  the  English  squadron,  off  Cape  Tra- 
falgar, annihilated  the  combined  fleet  of  France  and  Spain. 
Henceforth,  Xapoleon  never  contested  with  England  the 
supremacy  of  the  sea. 

Royal  Vassals. — On  land,  however,  after  Austerlitz,  no 
one  dared  to  resist  his  will.  To  strengthen  his  power,  he 
surrounded  France  with  fiefs,  after  the  manner  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  Seventeen  states  of  Germany  were  united  in  the 
Confederation  of  the  Ehine,  in  close  alliance  with  him.  His 
brother  Louis  received  the  kingdom  of  Holland;  Jerome, 
that  of  Westphalia  ;  and  Joseph,  that  of  Naples.  His  brother- 
in-law  Murat  was  assigned  the  grandducTiy  of  Berg  ;  Marshal 
Berthier,  the  province  of  Neuchdtel ;  and  Talleyrand,  that  of 
Benevento.   Bernadotte  was  given  Ponte-Corvo,  but  afterward 


*  When  Pitt  received  the  news  of  Austerlitz,  he  exclaimed,  "  Roll  up  the  map  of 
Europe  :  it  will  not  be  wanted  these  ten  years."  Then,  felling  into  a  dying  stupor, 
he  awoke  only  to  murmur,  "  Alas,  my  oountry." 


564 


THE     i^^INETEEl^TH     CEi^TURY. 


[1806. 


s^iiiii:a  iLGiiii  lii  if 


immtti  tnnnnjj 


i4^-m 


he  was  allowed  to 
accept  the  crown  of 
Sweden.  In  all, 
I  over  twenty  princi- 
palities were  dis- 
tributed among  his 
relatives  and  friends, 
who  were  henceforth 
expected  to  obey  him 
as  suzerain. 

War  with  Prus- 
sia (1806).— Prus- 
sia's, humiliation  was  to  come  next.  A  Fourth  Coalition 
(Prussia,  Russia,  England,  etc.)  had  now  been  formed 
against  Franco,  but  the  Grand  Army  was  still  in  Germany, 
and,  before  the  Prussians  could  prepare  for  war,  Napoleon 
burst  upon  them.  In  one  day  he  annihilated  their  army 
at  Jena  and  Auerstddt,  and  thus,  by  a  single  dreadful 
blow,  laid  the   country  prostrate  at  his  feet.     Amid  the 


NAPOLEON   AND   JOSEPHINE    AT  ST.    CLOUD. 


1806.]  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION.  665 

tears  of  the  people,  he  entered  Berlin,  levied  enormous 
contributions,*  plundered  the  museums,  and  even  rifled  the 
tomb  of  Frederick  the  Great. 

Berlin  Decrees  (1806).— Unable  to  meet  England  on 
the  ocean,  Napoleon  determined  to  destroy  her  commerce, 
and  issued  at  Berlin  the  famous  decrees  prohibiting  British 
trade,  f  The  Continental  System,  as  it  was  called,  was, 
however,  a  failure.  Xapoleon  had  no  navy  to  enforce  it. 
English  goods  were  smuggled  wherever  a  British  vessel  could 
float.  It  is  said  that  Manchester  prints  were  worn  even  in 
the  Tuileries. 

War  with  Russia  (1807). — Napoleon  next  hastened  into 
Poland  to  meet  the  Eussian  army.  The  bloody  battle  of 
Eylau,  fought  amid  blinding  snow,  was  indecisive,  but  the 
victory  of  Friedland  forced  Alexander  to  sue  for  peace.  The 
two  emperors  met  upon  a  raft  in  the  river  Niemen.  By  the 
Treaty  of  Tilsit,  they  agreed  to  support  each  other  in  their 
ambitious  schemes. 

Peninsular  War. — Napoleon  sought,  also,  to  make  Spain 
and  Portugal  subject  to  France.  On  the  plea  of  enforcing 
the  Continental  System,  Junot  was  sent  into  Portugal,  where- 
upon the  royal  family  fled  to  Brazil.    The  imbecile  king  of 

*  To  raise  the  amount,  the  women  gave  up  their  ornaments,  and  wore  rings  of 
Berlin  iron — since  then  noted  in  the  patriotic  annals  of  Prussia.  "  This  country  fur- 
nishes a  curious  and  perhaps  unique  example  of  a  despotic  monarchy  forced  by  a 
despotism  stronger  than  itself  to  seek  defence  in  secret  association.  When  Prussia 
lay  crushed  under  the  merciless  tyranny  of  Napoleon,  Baron  Stein,  the  prime  minis- 
ter, bethought  him  how  he  could  rouse  the  German  spirit  and  unite  the  country 
against  tlie  invader.  He  devised  the  Tugendbund,  or  League  of  Virtue  (1807),  which 
spread  rapidly  over  the  country,  and  soon  •  numbered  in  its  ranks  the  flower  of  the 
people,  including  the  very  highest  rank.  Its  organization  and  discipline  were  per- 
fect, and  its  authority  was  unbounded,  although  the  source  was  veiled  in  the  deepest 
secrecy.  One  of  the  motives  by  which  Stein  kindled  to  white-heat  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  people  was  the  hope  of  representative  institutions  and  a  free  press  ;  but  the 
king  did  not  hesitate  to  violate  his  royal  promise  when  its  purpose  was  served.  The 
Tuiendbund  contributed  powerfully  to  the  resurrection  of  German  national  life  in 
1813,  and  to  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon." 

t  They  made  smuggling  a  capital  oflence.  A  man  was  shot  at  Hamburg  merely 
for  having  a  little  sugar  in  his  house; 


566  THE     l^^IKETEEJ^TH     CENTURY.  [1808. 

Spain  being  induced  to  abdicate,  the  Spanish  crown  was 
placed  upon  the  head  of  Napoleon's  brother  Joseph,  while 
Naples  was  transferred  to  Murat. 

But  Spain  rebelled  against  the  hated  intruder.  The  entire 
kingdom  blazed  with  fanatic  devotion.  More  Frenchmen 
perished  by  the  knife  of  the  assassin  than  by  the  bullet  of 
the  soldier.  Joseph  kept  his  ill-gotten  throne  only  eight 
days.  The  English,  who  now  for  the  first  time  fought 
Napoleon  on  land,  crossed  into  Portugal,  and  Sir  Arthur 
Wellesley  quickly  expelled  the  French. 

Napoleon  was  forced  to  come  to  the  rescue  with  the 
Grand  Army.  By  three  great  battles  he  reached  Madrid 
and  replaced  Joseph  upon  the  throne,  while  Marshal  Soult 
pursued  the  English  army  to  the  sea,  where  it  took  ship  for 
home.* 

War  with  Austria  (1809).— A  Fifth  Coalition  (England, 
Austria,  Spain,  and  Portugal)  having  been  organized  to  stay 
the  progress  of  France,  Austria  took  advantage  of  the  absence 
of  the  Grand  Army  in  Spain,  and  opened  a  new  campaign. 
Napoleon  hurried  across  the  Rhine,  and  in  five  days  captured 
sixty  thousand  prisoners,  and  drove  the  Austrians  over  the 
Danube. 

Battles  of  Aspern  and  Wagram. — But,  while  the  French 
were  crossing  the  river  in  pursuit,  the  Austrian  army  fell 
upon  them  with  terrible  desperation.  During  the  struggle, 
the  village  of  Aspern  was  taken  and  retaken  fourteen  times. 
Napoleon  was  forced  to  retreat.  He  at  once  summoned 
reinforcements  from  all  parts  of  his  vast  dominions,  and, 
recrossing  the  stream  in  the  midst  of  a  fearful  thunderstorm, 


*  The  gallant  Sir  John  Moore,  then  in  command,  was  mortally  wounded  just 
before  the  embarkation.  His  body,  wrapped  in  his  military  cloak,  was  hastily  buried 
on  the  ramparts, 

"By  the  struggling  moonbeam's  misty  light, 
And  the  lantern  dimly  burning."— TW/?'«  Ode, 


1809.] 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION. 


567 


THE    BATTLE    OF     WAGKAM. 


defeated  the  Aostrians  on  the  plain  of  Wagram,  and  imposed 
the  humiliating 

Peace  of  Vienna. — It  exacted  a  large  territory,  a  money- 
indemnity,  adherence  to  the  Continental  System,  and  the 
blowing  up  of  the  walls  of  Vienna — the  favorite  promenade 
of  its  citizens. 

The  treaty  was  cemented  by  marriage.  Napoleon  divorced 
Josephine  and  married  Maria  Louisa,  daughter  of  Francis. 
But  this  alliance  of  the  Soldier  of  the  Revolution  with  the 
proud  house  of  Hapsburg  was  distasteful  to  the  other 
crowned  heads  of  Europe  and  unpopular  in  France. 

War  in  Spain  (1809-12). — During  the  campaign  in  Aus- 
tria, over  three  hundred  thousand  French  soldiers  were  in 


568       THE  NIKETEEKTH  CENTURY.   [1809-12, 

Spain,  but  Napoleon  was  not  there.  Jealousies  and  the  dif- 
ficulties of  a  guerilla  warfare  prevented  success.  Wellesley 
crossed  the  Duoro  in  the  face  of  Marshal  Soult,  and  at  last 
drove  him  out  of  the  country.*  Joining  the  Spaniards,  Wel- 
lesley then  defeated  Joseph  in  the  great  battle  of  Talavera  ; 
but  Soult,  Ney,  and  Mortier  having  come  up,  he  retreated 
into  Portugal. 

The  next  year,  he  fell  back  before  the  superior  forces  of 
Massena  into  the  fortified  lines  of  Torres  Vedras,  Massena 
remained  in  front  of  this  impregnable  position  until  starva- 
tion forced  him  to  retire  into  Spain.  His  watchful  antagonist 
instantly  followed  him,  and  it  was  only  by  consummate  skill 
that  the  French  captain  escaped  with  the  wreck  of  his  army. 
The  victories  of  Alhuera  and  Salamanca,  and  the  capture  of 
Ciudad  Rodrigo  and  Badajoz  cost  the  French  the  peninsula 
south  of  Madrid.  Joseph's  throne  was  held  up  on  the  point 
of  French  bayonets. 

Russian  Campaign  (1812). — As  the  emperor  Alexander 
refused  to  carry  out  the  Continental  System,  Napoleon  in- 
vaded that  country  with  a  vast  army  of  seven  hundred  thou- 
sand men.  But,  as  he  advanced,  the  Russians  retired,  de- 
stroying the  crops  and  burning  the  villages.  No  longer  could 
he  make  war  support  war.  By  incredible  exertions,  however, 
he  pushed  forward,  won  the  bloody  battle  of  Borodino,  and 
finally  entered  Moscow. 

But  the  inhabitants  had  deserted  the  city.  The  next 
night,  the  Russians  fired  it  in  a  thousand  places.  The 
blackened  ruins  furnished  no  shelter  from  the  northern 
winter  then  fast  approaching.    Famine  was  already  making 

*  Napoleon  was  accustomed  to  mass  his  men  in  a  tremendous  column  of  attack 
that  crushed  down  all  opposition.  Wellesley  (now  better  known  as  Lord  Welling- 
ton) believed  that  the  English  troops  in  thin  line-of-battle  could  resist  this  fearful 
onset.  In  the  end,  as  we  shall  see  (p.  572,)  Wellington's  tactics  proved  superior  to 
those  of  Napoleon. 


1812.J 


THE     FBEi^^CH     REVOLUTIOJS^. 


569 


sad  havoc  in  the  invader's  ranks.     The  Czar  refused  peace. 
Napoleon  had  no  alternative  but  to 

Retreat  from  Moscow. — The  mercury  suddenly  sank  to 
zero.     The  soldiers,  unused  to  the  rigors   of  the  climate. 


COSSACKS   HARASSING  THE    RETREATING   ARMY. 


died  as  they  walked; 
they  perished  if 
they  stopped  to 
rest.  Hundreds  lay 
down  by  the  fires 
at  night,  and  never 
rose  in  the  morn- 
ing. Wild  Cossack 
troopers  hovered  about  the  rear,  and,  hidden  by  the  gusts  of 
snow,  dashed  down  upon  the  blinded  column,  and  with 
their  long  lances  pierced  far  into  the  line;  then,  ere  the 
French  with  their  stiffened  fingers  could  raise  a  musket,  the 
Tartars,  dropping  at  full  length  on  the  backs  of  their 
ponies,  vanished  in  the  falling  sleet.  Napoleon  finally  gave 
up  the  command  to  Murat,  and  set  off  for  Paris.     All  idea 


570  THE     NINETEENTH     CENTUKT.  [1812. 

of  discipline  was  now  lost.  The  army  rapidly  dissolved  into 
a  mass  of  straggling  fugitives. 

Uprising  of  Europe  (1813).  — ''The  flames  of  Moscow 
were  the  funeral  pyre  of  the  empire."  The  yoke  of  the  arro- 
gant usurper  was  thrown  off  on  every  hand  whjen  Europe  saw 
a  hope  of  deliverance. 

A  Sixth  Gonfederation  (Russia,  Prussia,  England,  and 
Sweden)  against  French  domination  was  quickly  formed. 
Napoleon  raised  a  new  army  of  conscripts  which  defeated 
the  allies  at  Lutzen,*  Bautzen,  and  Dresden.  But  where  he 
was  absent  was  failure ;  while  Wellington,  flushed  with  vic- 
tory in  Spain,  crossed  the  Bidassoa,  and  set  foot  on  French 
soil.  And  now  Napoleon  himself,  in  the  terrible  ''Battle  of 
the  nations,"  was  routed  under  the  walls  of  Leipsic.  Flee- 
ing back  to  Paris,  he  collected  a  handful  of  men  for  the 
final  struggle. 

Invasion  of  France  (1814). — Nearly  a  million  of  foes 
swarmed  into  France  on  all  sides.  Never  did  Napoleon  dis- 
play such  genius,  such  profound  combinations,  such  fertility 
of  resource.  Striking,  now  here,  and  now  there,  he  held 
them  back  for  a  time;  but  making  a  false  move  to  the. rear 
of  the  Austrian  army,  the  allies  ventured  forward  and  cap- 
tured Paris.  The  fickle  Parisians  received  them  with  delight. 
The  people  were  weary  of  this  hopeless  butchery. 

Abdication  of  Napoleon. — Meanwhile,  Napoleon  was 
breathlessly  hastening  to  the  defence  of  his  capital.  When 
only  ten  miles  off,  he  received  the  fatal  news.  There  was  no 
hope  of  resistance,  and  he  agreed  to  abdicate  his  throne.  In 
the  court  of  the  palace  at  Fontainebleau,  he  bade  the  veter- 
ans of  the  Old  Guard  an  affecting  adieu,  and  then  set  out  for 
the  Island  of  Elba,  which  had  been  assigned  as  his  residence. 

*  A  battle-field  already  famed  for  the  death  of  Gustavua  Adolphus  (p.  483). 


1814]  FRAKCK  — THE     R  E  S  T  0  R  AT  1 0  :jr, 


571 


napoleon's  parting  with  the  old  guard  at  fontai.nebleau. 


1.    THE    RESTORATION    (1814). 

Louis  XVIII.,  brother  of  Louis  XVI.,  was  placed  upon  the 
throne.  France  resumed  very  nearly  the  boundaries  of  1792. 
The  Bourbons,  however,  had  "learned  nothing,  forgotten 
nothing."  The  nobles  talked  of  reclaiming  their  feudal 
rights,  and  looked  with  insolent  contempt  upon  the  upstarts 
who  had  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  Corsican  adventurer. 
No  wonder  that  people's  thoughts  again  turned  toward  Na- 
poleon. Soon,  men  spoke  mysteriously  of  a  certain  Corporal 
Violet  who  would  come  with  the  flowers  of  spring;  and  vio- 
lets bloomed  significantly  on  ladies'  hats. 

The  Hundred  Days  (March  20-June  22,  1815).— Sud- 
denly the  mystery  was  explained.  Napoleon  returned  to 
France  and  hastened  toward  Paris.  At  Grenoble,  he  met  a 
body  of  troops  drawn  up  to  bar  his  advance.     Wearing  his 


572  THE     KIKETEEKTH     CEKTLTEY. 


[1815. 


familiar  gray  coat  and  cocked  hat,  Napoleon  advanced  alone 
in  front  of  the  line  and  exclaimed,  '^Soldiers,  if  there  be  one 
among  you  who  would  kill  his  emperor,  here  he  is."  The  men 
dropped  their  arms  and  shouted,  "  Vive  VEmpereur!  "  *  Ney 
promised  "  to  bring  back  the  Corsican  to  Paris  in  an  iron 
cage."  But,  when  he  saw  the  colors  under  which  he  had 
fought  and  heard  the  shouts  of  the  men  he  had  so  often  led 
to  battle,  he  forgot  all  else  and  threw  himself  into  the  arms 
of  Napoleon. 

Louis  XVIII.  fled  incontinently.  The  restored  govern- 
ment of  the  Bourbons  melted  into  thin  air. 

Commissioners  were  at  Vienna  arranging  a  general  peace 
when  they  heard  of  the  return  of  Napoleon.  The  former 
coalition  was  at  once  renewed,  and  the  allied  troops  again 
took  the  field. 

Battle  of  Waterloo  (1815). —  Napoleon  quickly  assembled 
an  army  and  hastened  into  Belgium,  hoping  to  defeat  the 
English  and  Prussian  armies  before  the  others  arrived.  De- 
taching Grouchy  with  34,000  men  to  hold  Bliicher  and  the 
Prussians  in  check,  he  turned  to  attack  the  English.  Near 
Brussels  he  met  Wellington.  Each  general  had  about  seventy- 
five  thousand  men.  Napoleon  opened  the  battle  with  a 
feigned  but  fierce  attack  on  the  chdteau  of  Hougoumont  on 
the  British  right.  Then,  under  cover  of  a  tremendous  artil- 
lery-fire, he  massed  a  heavy  column  against  the  center.  La 
Haye  Sainte — a  farm-house  in  front  of  Wellington's  line — 
was  taken,  and  the  cavalry  streamed  up  the  heights  beyond. 
The  English  threw  themselves  into  squares,  upon  which  the 
French  cuirasseurs  dashed  with  the  utmost  fury.  For  five 
hours  they  charged  up  to  the  very  muzzles  of  the  British 


*  When  Colonel  Labedoyere  joined  him  with  his  regiment,  each  soldier  took 
from  the  bottom  of  his  knapsack  the  tricolored  cockade,  which  he  had  carefully 
hidden  for  ten  months. 


1815.]  FRANCE— THE     RESTORATION.  573 

guns.  English  tenacity  struggled  with  French  enthusiasm. 
Wellington,  momentarily  consulting  his  watch,  longed  for 
night  or  Bliicher.  Napoleon  hurried  messenger  after  mes- 
senger to  recall  Grouchy  to  his  help.  Just  at  evening,  Ney 
with  the  Old  and  the  Young  Guard  made  a  last  effort.  These 
veterans,  whose  presence  had  decided  so  many  battles,  swept 
to  the  top  of  the  slope.  The  British  Guards  who  were  lying 
down  beliind  the  crest  rose  and  poured  in  a  deadly  fire. 
The  English  converged  from  all  sides.  Suddenly,  cannon- 
ading was  heard  on  the  extreme  French  right.  "  It  is  Grou- 
chy," cried  the  soldiers.  It  was  Bliicher's  masses  carrying 
all  before  them.  The  terrible  '^  sauve  qui  peut^^  arose. 
Whole  ranks  of  the  French  melted  away.  *'A11  is  lost," 
shouted  ]S"apoleon,  and,  putting  spurs  to  his  horse,  he  fled 
from  the  field. 

Second  Abdication. — Having  abdicated  the  throne  a  second 
time.  Napoleon  went  on  board  the  British  ship  Bellerophon 
and  surrendered.  In  order  to  prevent  him  from  again 
troubling  the  peace,  England  imprisoned  him  upon  the 
Island  of  St.  Helena.  The  long  wars  of  the  French  Eevo- 
lution  which  had  convulsed  Europe  since  1792  were  at  length 
ended. 

Napoleon's  Fate.— The  Corsican  Adv-enturer  dragged  out  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  recalling  the  glories  of  his  past  and  complain- 
ing of  the  annoyances  of  the  present.  On  the  evening  of  May  5, 1831, 
there  was  a  fearful  storm  of  wind  and  rain,  in  the  midst  of  which,  as 
in  the  case  of  Cromwell,  the  soul  of  the  warrior  went  to  its  final  ac- 
count. The  howling  of  the  tempest  seemed  to  recall  to  his  wandering 
mind  the  roar  of  battle,  and  his  last  words  were,  "  Tete  d'armee."  He 
was  buried  near  his  favorite  resort— a  fountain  shaded  by  a  few 
weeping  willows.  In  his  will  was  a  request  that  his  "  body  might 
repose  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  among  the  people  he  had  loved 
so  well."  During  the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe,  his  remains  were  carried 
to  Paris,  and  laid  beneath  a  magnificent  mausoleum  connected  with 
the  Hotel  des  Invalides.  "  The  body  had  been  so  skilfully  embalmed 
that  nineteen  years  of  death  had  not  efEaced  the  expression  of  the 


574 


THE     KIXETEENTH     CENTURY. 


[1815. 


^.-...i^ 


TOMB  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA. 


well-remembered  features. 
Men  looked  once  more 
witli  reverence  and  pity 
upon  the  almost  un- 
changed countenance  of 
liim  who  had  been  the 
glory  and  the  scourge  of 
his  age." 

Napoleon's  Oppor- 
tunity was  a  rare  one, 
but  he  ingloriously 
missed  it.  If  he  had 
been  wise,  he  might  have 
seen,  at  several  stages  in 
his  career — probably  after 
Marengo,  at  all  events 
after  Austerlitz — that  it 
was  within  his  reach  to  found  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  com- 
pact kingdoms  in  the  world.  He  might  have  been  Emperor  of  a 
France  bounded  by  the  Pyrenees,  the  Alps,  and  the  RJiine,  with  by  far 
the  greatest  military  strength  in  Europe.  Within  this  splendid  ter- 
ritory, he  might  have  established  a  moral  and  intellectual  power  even 
more  formidable  and  durable  than  his  military  power.  But  his  double- 
dealing;  his  over- reaching  project  of  parceling  out  Europe  among  his 
relations  and  dependants  ;  and  the  folly  of  the  Austrian  marriage,  the 
Spanish  War,  and  the  Russian  campaign, — all  illustrated  his  lack  of 
wisdom  and  wrecked  his  throne. 

"  Napoleon's  Mission,"  says  Bryce,  "was  to  break  up  in  Germany 
and  Italy  the  abominable  system  of  petty  states,  to  reawaken  the  "spirit 
of  the  people,  to  sweep  away  the  relics  of  an  effete  feudalism,  and  leave 
the  ground  clear  for  the  growth  of  newer  and  better  forms  of  political 
life."  The  Child  of  the  Revolution,  he  conquered  only  to  destroy:  still, 
the  very  necessities  of  his  position  required  him  to  defer  to  democratic 
influences  at  home  and  to  spread  them  abroad.  He  was  as  despotic  as  the 
kings  whom  he  unseated.  He  inflicted  upon  Europe  the  most  appalling 
miseries,  during  nineteen  years  of  almost  constant  war.  Yet  out  of  the 
fearful  evils  of  his  life  came  the  ultimate  good  of  humanity.  Even  the 
hatred  evoked  by  his  despotism,  and  the  patriotic  efforts  demanded  to 
overthrow  his  power,  taught  the  nations  to  know  their  strength.  To 
the  Napoleonic  rule,  Germany  and  Italy  date  back  the  first  glimpses  and 
possibilities  of  united  national  life. 


Second  Restoration. — Louis  XVIII.    now  reoccupied 
his  throne.     France,  in  her  turn,  was  forced  to  submit  to 


1815.] 


FRAN^CE  —  THE     EESTORATIOJ^, 


575 


a  humiliating  peace.  The  Congress  of  Vienna  imposed  an 
indemnity  of  seven  hundred  million  francs  ;  a  loss  of  terri- 
tory having  a  population  of  twenty-five  hundred  thousand 
persons ;  and  the  occupation  of  the  French  frontier  by  a 
foreign  army  for  five  years.*  Louis  now  resisted  the  ultra- 
royalists,  and  prudently  sought  to  establish  a  limited  mon- 
archy, with  a  chamber  of  peers  and  one  of  deputies,  based 
upon  a  restricted  suffrage.  But  his 
brother,  who  succeeded  to  the  crown 
as 

Charles  X.  (1824-'30),  was  bent 
on  restoring  the  Bourbon  despotism. 
His  flagrant  usurpations  of  power 
ended  in  the  '^  Revolution  of  the 
Three  Days  of  July,  1830."  Once 
more  the  pavements  of  Paris  were 
torn  up  for  barricades.  La  Fayette 
again  appeared  on  the  scene,  waving 
the  tricolored  flag.  The  palace  of 
the  Tuileries  was  sacked.  Charles 
was  forced  to  flee.  The  Chambers 
elected  his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans, as  "King  of  the  French,"  thus 
finally  repudiating  the  doctrine  of 
the  "  Divine  right  of  kings." 

The  House  of  Orleans. — Louis  Philippe  (1830-48),  the 
"  Citizen  King,"  who  now  received  the  crown,  at  first  won  the 
good-will  of  the  nation  by  his  charming  family-life,  and  his 
earnest  efforts  to  rule  as  a  constitutional  monarch.    But 

♦  The  allies  returned  to  their  owners  the  treasures  of  art  Napoleon  had  pillaged. 
"The  bronze  horses  from  Corinth  resumed  their  old  place  on  the  portico  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Mark  in  Venice  ;  the  Transfiguration  was  restored  to  the  Vatican  ;  the 
Apollo  Pelvidere  and  the  LaocoOn  ajrain  adorned  St.  Peter's ;  the  Venus  de'  Medici 
was  enshrined  with  new  beauty  at  Florence  ;  and  the  Descent  from  the  Cross  was 
replaced  in  the  Cathedral  of  Antwerp."— Lord's  Modern  Europe, 


COLUMN   OF   JULY. 


576 


THE     I^INETEENTH     CEiq^TURY 


[1830. 


there  were  many  conflicting  parties — the  Bourbo?iisfs,  who 
sustained  the  grandson  of  Charles  X.  (Oomte  de  Chambord, 
or  "  Henry  V.") ;  the  Bonapartists,  who  reniembered  Napo- 
leon's successes,  and  not  the  misery  he  had  caused;   the 


LANCERS    CLEARING   THE    BOULEVARDS    OF    PARIS. 


Orleanists,  who  supported  the  constitutional  monarchy ; 
the  RepuUicans,  who  wished  for  a  republic ;  and  the  Red  or 
Radical  Republicans,  who  had  adopted  socialistic  doctrines. 
The  favorite  motto  was,  ''Liberty,  Equality,  and  Frater- 
nity." Political  clubs  fomented  disorder.  Amid  these 
complications,  the  king's  popularity  waned.  His  policy  of 
"Peace  at  any  price,"  and  his  selfish  ambition  in  seeking 
donations  and  royal  alliances  for  his  family,  aroused  general 
contempt.  Finally,  a  popular  demand  for  an  extension  of 
the  franchise  found  expression  in  certain  "Reform  Ban- 
quets." An  attempt  to  suppress  one  of  these  meetings  at 
Paris  precipitated 


1848.]  FRANCE — THE     SECOND     REPUBLIC, 


577 


PROCLAMATION    OF    THE   REPUBLIC. 


The  Revolution  of  1848. — Barricades  sprung  up  as  by 
magic.  The  red  flag  was  unfurled.  The  National  Guards 
fraternized  with  the  rabble.  Louis  Philippe  lost  heart,  and, 
assuming  the  name  of  Smith,  fled  to  England.     A  republic 


578  THE      NINETEENTH     CENTURY.  [1848. 

was  again  proclaimed.     Fiance,  as  usual,  foUowed  the  lead 
of  Paris.* 

2.  THE   SECOND   REPUBLIC   (184&-'52). 

The  Paris  Mob,  though  it  had  establisiied  a  republic, 
really  wanted  equality  of  money  rather  than  of  rights.  The 
Socialists  taught  that  government  should  provide  work  and 
wages  for  every  one.  To  meet  the  demand,  national  work- 
shops were  established ;  but,  when  these  proved  an  evil  and 
were  closed,  the  Reds  organized  an  outbreak.  For  three 
days,  a  fearful  fight  raged  in  the  streets  of  Paris.  Order  was 
at  last  restored  at  a  cost  of  five  thousand  lives. 

Louis  Napoleon,  nephew  of  Napoleon  I.,  was  then  chosen 
president  of  the  new  republic.  Before  his  four-years  term  of 
office  had  expired,  he  plotted,  by  the  help  of  the  army,  a 
coup  cfetat  (1851).  His  very  audacity  won  the  day.  The 
Chamber  of  Deputies  was  dissolved;  his  opponents  were 
imprisoned  ;  and  4ie  was  elected  president  for  ten  years. 

As,  fifty  years  before,  the  Consulate  gave  place  to  the 
Empire,  so  now  the  Second  Republic  was  soon  merged  in 
the  Second  Empire.  In  1852,  the  president  assumed  the 
title  of  emperor.  Again  the  popular  vote  approved  the  over- 
throw of  the  republic  and  Napoleon's  violation  of  the  consti- 
tution he  had  sworn  to  support. 

3.  THE   SECOND   EMPIRE   (1852-'70). 

Napoleon  III.  modeled  his  domestic  policy  after  that  of 
Napoleon  I.  He  relied  on  the  army  for  support,  and  cen- 
tralized all  authority.  He  improved  Paris  by  widening  its 
streets  and  removing  old  buildings.  He  reorganized  the 
army  and  navy ;   extended  railroads ;   encouraged  agricul- 

*  At  this  time,  the  provinces  complained  that  they  ^  had  to  receive  their  revolu- 
tions by  mail  from  Paris."  In  our  day,  Paris  is  no  longer  France;  and  the  rqral 
population  has  become  a  ruling  power  in  politics. 


1852.]  FEANCE  —  THE     SECOND     EMPIRE.  5'J'O 


STREET   PLACARDS  ANNOUNCING  THE  COUP   D  ETAT. 


ture ;  and  dazzled  men's  eyes  by 
the  glitter  of  a  brilliant  court. 
In  1867,  a  World's  Fair  was  held 
in  Paris.  Visitors  were  impressed 
by  the  evidences  of  a  wonderful 
material  prosperity. 

At  his  ascension,  Napoleon  announced  his  policy  in  the 
words,  "The  Empire  is  peace."  Yet  four  great  wars  charac- 
terized his  reign — the  Crimean  (p.  586),  the  Italian  (p.  594), 
the  Mexican  (Hist.  U.  S.,  p.  248),  and  the  German.  The 
last  is  of  the  greatest  interest,  as  it  revealed  the  inherent 
weakness  of  the  Napoleonic  administration,  and  caused  the 
emperor's  downfall. 

Seven-Months  War  with  Germany  (1870-'l).— The 
time-honored  policy  of  France  was  to  perpetuate  German 
divisions  in  order  to  weaken  that  nation.    Of  late,  there  had 


580  THE     NINETEENTH     CENTURY.  [l870. 

been  an  especial  jealousy  between  France  and  Prussia.  The 
former  was  distrustful  of  Prussia's  growing  power,  and  the 
latter  was  eager  to  avenge  Jena  and  recover  the  Ehine.  A 
proposal  of  the  Spaniards  to  bestow  their  crown  upon  a  rela- 
tion of  the  king  of  Prussia  was  resented  by  France  as  an 
undue  extension  of  Prussian  influence,  and  out  of  it  finally 
grew  an  excuse  to  declare  war. 

Invasion  of  France. — The  French  troops  left  Paris  to  the 
cry  of  "On  to  Berlin,"  but  they  never  crossed  the  Rhine. 
The  soldiers  had  no  respect  for  their  commanders,  and  lacked 
discipline  and  confidence.  The  generals  were  ignorant  of 
the  country  and  the  position  of  the  enemy.  The  Prussian 
trooper  knew  more  of  the  French  roads  than  many  an  Im- 
perial officer.  The  German  armies,  by  their  superior  dis- 
-iipline  and  overwhelming  numbers,  crashed  all  opposition. 
Victories  followed  fast,  at  Weissenhurg,  Worth,  Conrcelles, 
Vionville,  and  Gravelotte.  Napoleon  himself  surrendered  at 
Sedan  with  eighty  thousand  men,  and  Marshal  Bazaine  at 
Metz  with  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand. 

When  the  news  of  the  disaster  of  Sedan  reached  Paris,  the 
people  turned  their  wrath  upon  Napoleon  and  his  family. 
The  empress  Eugenie  was  forced  to  flee,  and  the  empire 
was  at  an  end.  The  conquerors  now  closed  in  upon  Paris, 
and,  after  a  siege  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  days,  that 
city  surrendered. 

4.  THE  THIRD  REPUBLIC  (1871  to  the  present  time). 

The  Republic— The  Germans  having  granted  a  three- 
weeks  truce  that  the  French  might  vote  for  a  new  govern- 
ment, an  Assembly  was  chosen  by  the  people.  Thiers  was 
elected  president  of  the  new  republic.  But  peace  was  pur- 
chased only  by  the  cession  of  Alsace  and  part  of  Lorraine, 
and  the  payment  of  flve  billion  francs.  Thus  Strasburg, 
taken  by  Louis  XIV.,  and  Metz,  by  Henry  II.,  were  lost, 


1871.] 


FRANCE  —  THE     THIRD     REPUBLIC. 


581 


and  France  itself,  which  in  1814  had  been  conquered  only 
by  all  Europe,  lay  at  the  mercy  of  one  naijon.  Jena  and 
the  cruel  indignities  which  Napoleon  had  inflicted  on  Ger- 
many were  sadly  expiated. 

The  Commune  (1871).— While  a  German  army  was  yet 
at  hand,  the  indemnity  unpaid,  and  the  country  devastated 
by  war,  the  Parisian  rab- 
ble inaugurated  a  second 
reign  of  terror.  Barricades 
were  thrown  up,  the  red 
flag — symbol  of  anarchy — 
was  unfurled,  and  a  Com- 
mune was  established  at 
the  Hotel  de  Ville.  The 
Assembly  met  at  Versailles 
and  collected  troops.  Then 
ensued  a  second  .siege  of 
Paris  more  disastrous  than 
the  first.  The  Communists, 
defeated  at  all  points,  laid 
trains  of  petroleum,  and 
destroyed    the     Tuileries, 

the  H6tel  de  Ville,  and  many  of  the  finest  public  buildings. 
This  fearful  ruin  was  as  useless  as  it  was  vindictive. 

The  Assembly,  having  triumphed,  assumed  the  difficult 
task  of  government.  The  administration  of  Thiers  was  sin- 
gularly successful,  and  the  rapid  payment  of  the  war  penalty 
to  Germany  excited  the  wonder  of  the  world.  The  French 
felt  that  they  had  been  beaten  by  the  German  public  school, 
and  so  primary  education  became  one  of  the  most  engrossing 
cares  of  the  young  republic.  The  army  was  also  remodeled 
after  the  German  plan ;  it  is  said  that  in  an  emergency  twenty- 
four  hundred  thousand  men  could  now  be  put  in  the  field. 


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EXECUTION  OF  A  FEMALE  COMMUNIST  IX  PARIS. 


58f2 


THE     IsINETEENTJI     CEiflURY 


[1871. 


BARRICADING    THE    STREETS    OF    PARIS. 


On  Thiers's  resignation  in  1873,  Marshal  McMahon  was 
chosen  as  his  successor  ;  Grevy  succeeded  to  the  presidency 
in  1879. 


1820.]      ENGLAND  —  THE    HOUSE    OF    HANOVER.       583 


II.    ENGLAND    UNDER    THE    HOUSE    OF    HANOVER    {Continued). 

The  English  Monarchs  of  the  present  century  are  as 
follows  :  George  IV.  (1820-'30),  owing  to  the  insanity  of  his 
father,  ruled  for  nine  years  as  regent.  Though  styled  the 
**  First  Gentleman  of  Europe"  for  his  courtly  manners  and 
exquisite  dress,  he  was  selfish  as  Charles  I.  and  profligate  as 
Charles  11.  William  IV.  (1830-'7),  brother  of  George  IV., 
having  seen  service  in  the  navy,  w^as  known  as  the  "  Sailor 
King."  His  warm  heart,  open  hand,  and  common  sense 
won  the  love  of  England.  Victoria  (1837- — ),  niece  of 
William  IV.,  ascended  the  throne  at  the  age  of  eighteen.* 
Her  reign  has  proved  a  blessing  to  the  world.  All  England 
has  felt  the  benediction  of  her  pure  life  and  her  Christian 
example,  as  queen,  wife,  and  mother. 

State  of  the  Country. — The  long  wars  of  the  French 
Eevolution  left  England  burdened  with  a  debt  of  four  billion 
dollars.  The  condition  of  the  common  j)eople  was  miserable. 
Wages  were  low,  and  the  Corn  Laws,  imposing  a  heavy  duty 
on  foreign  grain,  made  the  price  of  food  very  high.  Suffrage 
was  limited  ;  there  was  no  system  of  public  education  ;  and 
the  laws  were  unequal.  Thousands  of  disbanded  soldiers 
and  sailors  vainly  sought  for  work.  Bands^  of  discharged 
laborers  roamed  through  the  country,  breaking  the  stock- 
ing and  lace  frames  which  had  taken  from  them  their 
employment.  Incendiary  fires  lighted  the  evening  sky. 
Everywhere,  men's  minds  were  astir  with  a  sense  of  injustice 
and  a  need  of  political  privileges.  It  is  noticeable  that  while 
in  France  improvement  came  only  by  revolution,  in  England 
wrongs  were  righted  by  peaceable  reform. 

Reforms. — The  Test  Act  was  repealed  in  1828,  and  the 
next  year  Catholics  were  granted,  Avith  a  few  exceptions, 

*  Hanover  was  then  severed  from  the  British  Empire  by  the  Salic  law. 


584  THE     NINETEENTH     CENTURY.  [1832. 

equal  rights  with  their  Protestant  fellow-citizens.  The 
First  Reform  Bill  (183;^),  proposed  by  Lord  John  Kussell, 
extended  the  franchise,  abolished  many  rotten  boroughs,* 
and  empowered  the  large  towns  to  send  members  to  Parlia- 
ment. The  Negro  Emancipation  Bill  (1833),  passed  chiefly 
through  the  philanthropic  efforts  of  William  Wilberforce, 
suppressed  slavery  throughout  the  British  Empire. 

The  Chartists,  principally  workingmen,  were  so  called 
from  a  document  termed  the  People's  Charter,  in  which  they 
demanded  six  changes  in  the  constitution,  viz.  :  1.  Universal 
suffrage;  2.  Vote  by  ballot ;  3.  Annual  Parliaments  ;  4.  Pay- 
ment of  members  of  Parliament ;  5.  Abolition  of  property 
qualification  for  a  seat  in  the  House  ;  and  6.  Equal  electoral 
districts.     In  1848 — that  year  of  revolution  over  the  conti- 

*  Cities,  like  Manchester  and  Leeds,  then  sent  no  members  to  Parliament,  while 
some  little  villages  had  two  members  apiece.  The  great  landowners  dictated  to  their 
tenants  the  proper  candidate.  There  were  many  "  pocket  or  rotten  boroughs  "  hav- 
ing seats  in  Parliament,  yet  without  house  or  inhabitant.  One  of  these  was  a  ruined 
wall  in  a  gentleman's  park  ;  another  was  under  the  sea»  "  So  utterly  were  the  people 
excluded  from  any  part  in  politics  that  for  twenty  years  there  had  not  been  in  Edin- 
burgh any  public  meeting  of  a  political  character." 

"  During  the  eighteenth  century,  the  Irish  Parliament,  composed  of  Protestants  of 
an  exceedingly  bitter  type,  had  heaped  upon  the  unhappy  Catholics  of  Ireland  an 
accumulation  of  the  most  wicked  laws  which  have  ever  been  expressed  in  the  English 
tongue.  A  Catholic  could  not  sit  in  Parliament,  could  not  hold  any  ofllce  under  the 
crown,  could  not  vote  at  an  election,  could  not  be  a  solicitor,  or  a  physician,  or  a 
sheriff,  or  a  gamekeeper.  If  his  son  became  a  Protestant,  he  was  withdrawn  from 
paternal  custody  and  intrusted  to  Protestant  relatives,  with  a  suitable  provision  by 
the  father  for  his  maintenance.  A  Catholic  was  not  permitted  to  own  a  horse  of 
greater  value  than  five  pounds.  If  he  used  a  more  reputable  animal,  he  was  bound  to 
sell  it  for  that  sum  to  any  Protestant  who  was  disposed  to  buy.  If  a  younger  brother 
turned  Protestant,  he  supplanted  the  elder  in  his  birthright.  A  Catholic  could  not 
inherit  from  an  intestate  relative,  however  near.  A  Protestant  solicitor  who  married 
a  Catholic  was  disqualified  from  following  his  profession.  Marriages  of  Protestants 
and  Catholics,  if  performed  by  a  priest,  were  annulled,  and  the  priest  was  liable  to 
be  hanged.  Rewards,  varying  according  to  the  rank  of  the  victim,  were  offered  for 
the  discovery  of  Catholic  clergymen.  In  the  early  part  of  the  century,  a  Catholic  who 
was  so  daring  as  to  enter  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons  was  liable  to  arrest." 
(Mackenzie's  Nineteenth  Century.)  This  cruel  legislation  extended  even  to  the  dis- 
couraging of  the  woolen  manufacture  in  Ireland,  in  order  to  prevent  competition  and 
the  injury  of  the  English  mill-owners.  Many  of  these  pitiable  laws  were  abolished 
in  the  century  that  gave  them  birth ;  others  would  have  been  annulled  at  an  early 
date  after  the  Union  in  1801  had  it  not  been  for  the  violent  opposition  of  George  IV., 
supported  by  Mr.  Peel  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  The  agitation  by  O'Connell 
roused  the  country  and  aided  much  in  inaugurating  the  era  of  reform. 


1848.]     ENGLAKD— THE    HOUSE    OF    HAKOVER.       585 

nent* — the  Chartists  mustered  on  Kennington  Common, 
intending  to  march  througli  London  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, to  present  a  monster  petition  (said  to  contain  five 
million  signatures),  and  compel  that  body  to  yield  to  their 
demands.  The  government  thereupon  called  out  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  special  constables,  and  this  remark- 
able demonstration  of  public  opinion  quelled  the  movement. 
Though  the  organization  disbanded,  the  agitation  bore  fruit, 
and  most  of  the  reforms  have  since  been  granted.  This  was 
a  contest  for  political  power,  but  with  it  came  one  for  cheap 
bread. 

An  Anti-Corn-Law  League  was  formed  in  Manches- 
ter (1839),  having  branches  throughout  the  kingdom.  At 
the  head  of  this  agitation  were  Richard  Cobden  and  John 
Bright.  They  held  the  doctrine  of  free  trade — that  every 
man  should  be  free  to  buy  in  the  cheapest  market  and  to 
sell  in  the  dearest,  without  any  restriction.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Protectionists  claimed  that  high  duties,  by  keep- 
ing up  the  price  of  grain,  manufactures,  etc.,  defended  home 
industries  against  foreign  competition.  In  the  midst  of  the 
discussion,  the  potato  crop  of  Ireland  failed,  and  the  famine 
in  that  country  (1846)  forced  Robert  Peel,  the  leader  of  the 
Conservatives  in  Parliament,  to  introduce  a  bill  abolishing 
duties  upon  grain,  cattle,  etc.  This  repeal  came  into  opera- 
tion in  1849. 

The  First  Locomotive. — The  year  1830  is  memorable 
for  the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway, 
upon  which  passenger-cars  were  drawn  by  a  locomotive- 
engine — the  invention  of  George  Stephenson. 

*  "  Bliss  was  it  in  that  dawn  to  be  alive, 

But  to  be  young  was  very  heaven  !    O  times 
In  which  the  meagre,  stale,  forbidding  ways 
Of  custom,  law,  and  statute,  took  at  once 
The  attraction  of  a  country  romance  I 
Not  favored  spots  alone,  but  the  whole  earth 
The  beauty  wore  of  promise."—  Wordsworth. 


586  THE     K.INETEENTH     CENTUBY.  [1837 

Cheap  Postage. — A  young  man  named  Rowland  Hill 
brought  forward  the  idea  of  penny  postage.  The  scheme 
was  laughed  at,  but  it  became  a  law  in  1840.* 

The  First  World's  Fair  (1851)  was  held  at  London  in 
the  Crystal  Palace — then  a  novel  structure  of  iron  and  glass, 
covering  about  nineteen  acres  of  ground.  Prince  Albert,  the 
royal  consort,  fostered  this  exhibition,  which  resulted  most 
favorably,  especially  in  its  influence  upon  English  art  indus- 
tries. 

Crimean  War  (1854).— The  Emperor  Nicholas  of  Russia, 
anxious  to  seize  the  spoil  of  the  "  sick  man,"  as  the  Sultan 
of  Turkey  was  called,  took  possession  of  some  provinces  on 
the  Danube,  under  the  pretext,  of  supporting  the  claims  of 
the  Greek  Christians  to  certain  holy  places  in  Jerusalem. 
England  and  France  united  to  aid  the  Sultan.  An  allied 
army,  seventy  thousand  strong,  was  landed  in  the  Crimea. 
The  victory  of  the  Alma  enabled  the  troops  to  advance  upon 
Sebastopol,  a  formidable  fortress  which  gave  the  Czar  the 
command  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  in  whose  harbor  lay  the  fleet 
which  menaced  Constantinople  and  the  Bosporus.  The  siege 
lasted  nearly  a  year.  Innumerable  combats,^  two  desperate 
hsittles  —  Balaklava  \  and  Inkerman,  incessant  watchfulness 
by  day  and  night,  the  fatiguing  labor  of  the  trenches, 
and  the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate,  tried  the  valor  of  the 
French  and  the  constancy  of  the  English.  Finally,  the 
French  stormed  the  Malakoff,  and  the  Russians  evacuated 
the  city.  When  the  conquerors  entered,  they  found  such 
ruin,  flame,  and  devastation  as  greeted  Napoleon  in  the 
streets  of  Moscow. 

By  the  Treaty  of  Paris  (1856),  the  Czar  agreed  to  abandon 

*  Walter  Scott  tells  as  that  in  his  day  the  mail  from  Edinburgh  to  London  often 
contained  only  a  single  letter— the  postage  being  thirty-two  cents. 

t  This  battle  is  fomous  for  the  charge  of  the  Six  Hundred  so  graphically  described 
in  Tennyson's  popular  poem  :  "  Stormed  at  with  shot  and  shell." 


1856.]       ENGLAN^D  —  THE    HOUSE    OF     HANOVEK.         587 

his  protectorate  over  the  Danubian  provinces ;  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  Danube  was  made  free ;  and  the  Russians  were 
forbidden  to  have  vessels  of  war  on  the  Black  Sea. 

Indian  Mutiny  (1857). — The  sepoys,  or  native  soldiers  in 
the  English  service  in  India,  revolted  because  their  car- 
tridges were  said  to  be  greased  with  tallow  or  lard.  *  The 
white  residents  at  Delhi,  Cawnpore,  and  other  points,  were 
massacred  with  horrible  barbarity.  The  Europeans  at  Luck- 
now  held  out  against  Nana  Sahib  until  reinforced  by  General 
Havelock,  who  defended  the  city  while  Colin  Campbell 
(Lord  Clyde)  and  his  Highlanders  came  to  the  rescue.  The 
rebellion  was  finally  crushed,  and  the  East  India  Company 
(1859)  transferred  the  government  of  India  to  the  Queen, 
who  in  1876  v>as  made  Empress  of  India. 

Cotton  Famine. — Our  Civil  War  cut  ofi"  the  supply  of 
cotton,  so  that,  in  the  Lancashire  mills  alone,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  operatives  were  thrown  out  of  employment, 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  worked  only  half- 
time.  The  workingmen,  who  were  generally  Liberals,  sj^m- 
pathized  with  the  War  for  the  Union,  and  patiently  bore 
hunger  and  want,  in  devotion  to  their  principles. 

Recent  Reforms.— In  1867,  a  Eeform  Bill,  carried  by 
the  Conservatives,  under  the  leadership  of  Lord  Derby  and 
Mr.  Disraeli,  granted  a  franchise  which  amounts  very  nearly 
to  household  suffrage.  In  1869,  under  Mr.  Gladstone's  ad- 
ministration, a  bill  was  carried  for  the  disestablishment  and 
disendowment  of  the  Established  Church  in  Ireland,  where 
the  Catholics  are  the  majority  of  the  population  ;  in  1872, 
voting  by  ballot  was  introduced  ;  in  1870,  and  again  in  1881, 
bills  were  adopted  regulating  tenant-rights  in  Ireland  ;  in 
1 871,  all  religious  tests  for  admission  to  oflBce  or  degrees  in 

*  They  regarded  this  as  an  insult  to  their  religion  ;  siijce  a  Hindoo  majrnot  toucb 
pow's  fat ;  or  a  Mohanjiijedan,  Isrd. 


588  THE     NINETEENTH     CENTURY.  [1870. 

the  universities  were  abolished  ;  in  1870,  an  Educational 
Bill  provided  for  the  establishment  of  school  boards  in  every 
district  and  the  support  of  schools  by  taxation. 

III.  GERMANY. 

Germanic  Confederation. — The  Holy  Roman  Empire 
came  to  an  end  in  1806 — 1006  years  after  Pope  Leo  crowned 
Charlemagne  at  Eome.  Upon  Napoleon's  downfall,  it  was 
hoped  that  the  ancient  empire  would  be  restored.  The  patri- 
otic struggle  for  liberty  had  welded  the  petty  nationalities,  and 
the  people  did  not  wish  their  restoration.  But,  instead,  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  formed  a  German  Confederation  of 
thirty-nine  states.  A  permanent  diet  was  to  sit  at  Frank- 
fort-on-Main,  Austria  having  the  presidency. 

Prussia,  through  the  liberality  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
received  back  all  the  territory  she  had  lost  by  the  con- 
fiscations of  Napoleon,  and,  in  addition,  Swedish  Pomera- 
nia,  the  Rhinelands,  and  a  part  of  Saxony.  She  was  once 
more  a  great  power,  with  an  area  of  one  hundred  thousand 
square  miles  and  a  population  of  ten  million  people. 

The  Holy  Alliance  (1815). — The  sovereigns  of  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Prussia,  after  their  triumph  in  1815,  formed  a 
compact,  agreeing  ^^  to  regulate  their  conduct  by  the  precepts 
of  the  Gospel,"  and  also,  as  is  generally  believed  from  their 
subsequent  conduct,  to  aid  one  another  in  suppressing  the 
principles  of  liberty  aroused  by  the  French  Revolution. 

The  Demand  for  Freedom  and  Unity. — The  princes 
in  the  Confederation  promised  to  grant  their  people  con- 
stitutions, but  most  of  them  forgot  the  agreement  (p.  565). 
They  generally  opposed  union  and  sought  to  crush  its  rising 
spirit  in  the  universities.  The  questions  of  liberty  and  union 
were  so  blended,  however,  that  in  many  minds  the  only 
thought  was  which  should  first  be  secured.   Quite  a  step  was 


G  E  R  M  A  I^  Y 


i  mii 


'^ikm 


THE  ROYAL  PALACE  AT  BERLIN. 


taken  by  Prussia's  gr^ducilly  becoming,  after  1828,  the  center 
of  the  Zollverein,  a  commercial  union  between  the  German 
states  which  agreed  to  levy  customs  at  a  common  frontier. 

The  Revolution  of  '48  in  France  roused  tlie  German 
people  anew  to  demand  "freedom  of  speech,  liberty  of  the 
press,  and  a  constitutional  government."  The  Teutonic  love 
of  freedom  blazed  forth  in  all  the  great  cities.  Various  im- 
portant reforms  had  been  instituted  in  Prussia,  but  a  conflict 
now  broke  out  in  the  streets  of  Berlin,  and  several  persons  were 
killed;  whereupon,  Frederick  William  IV.  (Table,  p.  526) 
put  himself  forward  as  the  leader  of  the  movement  for  Ger- 
man unity ;  the  army  stood  firm  for  the  crown ;  finally,  a  new 
constitution  with  a  limited  suffrage  was  granted  the  people, 
and  order  was  re-established. 

In  Austria,  on  the  contrary,  repression  and  arbitrary 
measures  had  been  adopted,  through  the  influence  of  Prince 
Metternich — the  avowed  friend  of  despotism.     At  Vienna, 


590 


THE     KIl^ETEENTH     CENTUKY. 


[1848. 


an  uprising,  headed  by  the  students,  drove  Metternich  into 
exile,  and  such  was  the  confusion  that  the  emperor  Ferdinand 
sought  safety  in  flight.*  The  excesses  of  the  revolutionists, 
however,  destroyed  all  hope  of  success.  Ferdinand  now  abdi- 
cated in  favor  of  his  nephew,  Francis  Joseph. 

In  Hungary,  the  insurrection  was  more  serious.    Kossuth 

was  the  soul  of  the  rev- 
olution. Austria  was 
finally  obliged  to  call  in 
the  Eussian^.  An  Aus- 
tro-Eussian  army  of  four 
hundred  thousand,  un- 
der the  infamous  Hay- 
nau  (known  in  history 
as  the  "Hangman"), 
entered  Hungary  and 
wreaked  its  vengeance 
on  the  hapless  patriots. 
The  surrender  of  the 
traitor  Gorgey,  with  his 
entire  army,  ended  the 
fruitless  struggle.  Kos- 
suth gave  himself  up  to 
the  Turks;  he  lay  in 
prison  until  1851,  when  he  was  set  free  by  the  intervention 
of  the  United  States  and  England. 

War  -with  Denmark  (1864). — Bismarck,  the  Prussian 
minister,  induced  Austria  to  Join  Prussia  in  wresting  from 
Denmark  the  duchies  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein.  The 
division  of  the  plunder  so  easily  acquired  caused  renewed 
bitterness  between  the  two  rival  countries. 


PORTRAIT    OF    COUNT    BISMARCK. 


*  "I  want  obedient  subjects,"  said  the  emperor  to  the  students  at  Laybach,  "an^ 
DPt  jn^n  o|  learning. " 


1866.] 


GEKM  AN  Y. 


591 


Seven- Weeks  War  (1866). — The  jealousy  between 
Prussia  and  Austria  for  the  leadership  in  Germany,  thus  ag- 
gravated, continued,  and 
Bismarck  openly  declar- 
ed that  it  could  be  settled 
only  by  "  blood  and  iron." 
Excuses  were  easily 
found,  and,  in  1866, 
Prussia  and  Italy  de- 
clared war  against  Aus- 
tria. In  Italy,  the  Aus- 
trians  were  successful, 
but  the  Prussians  — 
armed  with  the  needle- 
gun,  a  new  breech-load- 
ing rifle  —  ro  ii  ted  the 
Austrians  at  Sadowa,"^ 
and  conquered  the  Peace 
of  Prague.  Austria  was 
forever  shut  out  of  Ger- 
many, besides  paying  a  large  indemnity  for  the  expenses 
of  the  war. 

The  North  German  Confederation  was  now  organized. 
The  Northern  states  were  thus  joined  under  the  presidency 
of  Prussia,  with  a  common  constitution  and  assembly.  The 
South  German  states — Baden,  Bavaria,  and  Wiirtemberg — 
remained  independent. 

Union  of  Germany. — When  the  French  war  broke  out, 
the  South  German  states  joined  Prussia,  and  the  Crown 
Prince  commanded  their  united  army  of  over  a  million  men. 


PORTRAIT    OF    WILLIAM,    KING    OF    PRUSSIA. 


*  When  the  king  and  the  crown  prince  met  on  the  field  after  the  battle,  the  army 
struck  up  the  same  old  choral  hymn.  "  Now  let  all  hearts  thank  God,"  that  the  troops 
of  Frederick  the  Great  sung  after  the  victory  of  Leuthen  (p.  530),  , 


592  THE     NINETEE]S^TH    CENTURY.  [1871. 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  struggle  developed  the  national  senti- 
ment. With  victory,  came  a  fresh  desire  for  union.  Finally, 
during  the  siege  of  Paris,  in  the  hall  of  Louis  XIV.,  in  the 
Palace  of  Versailles,  King  William  was  proclaimed  Emperor 
of  Germany  (Jan.  18,  1871).  The  word  Germany  at  last 
meant  something  more  than  "a  mere  geographical  expression." 
Austria,  after  the  Seven- Weeks  War,  granted  the  long- 
needed  reforms.  Hungary  was  given  a  constitution;  in 
1867,  Francis  Joseph  was  crowned  king;  and  Hungary  has 
thenceforth  been  distinct,  though  united  under  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  monarchy. 

IV.  ITALY. 

1815  to  1848. — The  history  of  Italy  during  this  period 
is  one  of  chronic  insurrection.  The  Congress  of  Vienna  left 
the  people  enslaved  and  divided.  The  dream  of  a  restored 
nationality,  nearly  realized  under  Napoleon,  was  rudely  dis- 
pelled; the  old  separations  were  renewed;  the  old  tyrants  were 
reseated.  Once  more,  Austrian  despotism  hung  like  a  mill- 
stone about  the  neck  of  the  nation.  The  Carbonari  (char- 
coal-burners), a  secret  society  formed  to  resist  Bourbon  op- 
pression, numbered  in  Italy  over  a  half-million  members,  with 
branches  in  other  countries.  An  organization,  known  as 
Young  Italy,  was  formed  by  Mazzini,  an  Italian  refugee,  who 
first  advanced  the  idea  of  a  united,  free  Italy.  Besides  open 
revolts,  there  were  secret  plots,  while  assassinations  were  only 
too  frequently  perpetrated  in  the  name  of  liberty.  Bat  Aus- 
tria was  strong  enough,  not  only  to  hold  her  own  possessions 
of  Lombardyand  Venice,  but  also  to  keep  her  creatures  upon 
their  thrones  in  the  small  states,  and  to  crush  the  republican 
movement  throughout  the  peninsula.  There  was  one  hope- 
ful sign.  In  the  kingdom  of  Sardinia,  where  Charles  Albert 
began  to  reign  in  1831,  a  spirit  of  nationality  prevailed. 


1848.] 


ITALY. 


593 


Revolution  of  '48. — The  example  of  the  French  and  the 
German  patriots  roused  the  Italians  to  a  new  struggle.  Mi- 
lan and  Venice  rose  in  arms.  Charles  Albert  raised  the  ban- 
ner against  Austria.  For  a  time,  nearly  all  Northern  Italy 
was  relieved  from  the  Hapsburg  yoke.  But  the  patriot 
triumph  was  short.  The  Austrians  gained  so  decisive  a  vic- 
tory at  Novara  (1849)  that  the  broken-hearted  Sardinian 
king  resigned  his  crown  to  his  son  Victor  Emmanuel  II. 

Pope  Pius  IX.  was  the  friend  of  the  liberals,  and  had 
granted  many  rights  to  the  people,  but  their  demands  in- 
creased during  this  re- 
publican year,  and  he 
finally  fled  from  Rome. 
That  city  was  then  de- 
clared a  republic,  and 
Mazzini  was  elected  chief 
of  the  Triumvirs,  or  mag- 
istrates. But,  strangely 
enough,  the  French  Re- 
public espoused  the  cause 
of  the  Austrians  and, 
though  Garibaldi — the 
^^Hero  of  the  red  shirt," 
bravely  defended  Rome, 
it  was  carried  by  storm. 
The  pope  came  back  as  an 
absolute  ruler,  and  a  French  garrison  was  placed  in  the  city. 

By  the  close  of  1849,  the  insurrection  had  been  crushed  out 
everywhere,  and  tyranny  seemed  triumphant.  But,  in  Sar- 
dinia, Victor  Emmanuel  maintained  a  constitutional  govern- 
ment, and,  more  and  more,  men  began  to  look  to  him  as  the 
champion  of  Italian  freedom.  He  kept  his  word  to  his 
people,   who   called   him  the  "  Honest   King."     In   1853, 


PORTRAIT    OF    GARIBALDI. 


594 


THE     ITIl^ETEEJ^TH     CEKTURY 


[1859. 


Count  Oavour,  an  ardent  and  wise  friend  of  Italian  unity, 
became  his  prime  minister.  He  induced  Emmanuel  to  win 
the  good-will  of  France  and  England  by  helping  them  in  the 
Crimean  war.  Accordingly,  the  allied  powers  remonstrated 
with  Ferdinand  for  his  cruel  rule  in  Italy,  and,  finally, 
France  and  Sardinia  joined  in  a 

War  against  Austria  (1859). — Napoleon  himself  took 
the  field.  The  combined  French  and  Sardinian  forces  won 
the  brilliant  victories  of  Magenta  and  8olferino.  Napoleon 
had  promised  '^to  make  Italy  free  from  the  Ticino  to  the 
Adriatic,"  and  he  seemed  about  to  keep  his  word.  But  Prus- 
sia threatened  to  take  the  part  of  Austria,  and  Napoleon, 
without  consulting  Emmanuel,  concluded  the  Peace  ofVilla- 
franca.  Lombardy  was  ceded  to  Sardinia.  Soon  after,  Nice 
and  Savoy  were  annexed  to  France.  Tuscany,  Modena,  Par- 
ma, and  Eomagna,  by  a 
popular  vote,  became 
subject  to  Sardinia. 
Thus,  by  the  help  of 
France,  nine  million 
people  were  added  to 
this  kingdom — the  hope 
of  Italy. 

Freedom  of  Sicily 
and  Naples.— And  now 
events  moved  on  rapid- 
ly. The  people  of  Na- 
ples and  Sicily  groaned 
under  the  cruel  Bour- 
bon rule.  Garibaldi,  is- 
suing from  his  rocky  re- 
treat of  Caprera,  landed  at  Marsala  in  Sicily,  proclaiming 
himself  dictator  for    Emmanuel.      Palermo   and    Messina 


PORTRAIT    OF    VICTOR    EMMANUEL. 


[1860. 


ITALY, 


595 


quickly  fell  into  his  hands,  and,  crossing  to  the  mainland, 
he  entered  Naples  in  triumph.  The  people  of  Naples  and 
Sicily  now  joined  themselves  to  Sardinia. 


THE    FRENCH    ARMY    OCCUPYING    THE    CASTLE    OF    ST.    ANGELO. 


United  Italy. — Emmanuel's  control  was  thus  extended 
over  all  Italy,  except  the  Austrian  province  of  Venetia  and 
the  city  of  Rome,  which  the  French  held  for  the  pope. 
.The  first  Italian  parliament  met  at  Turin  in  1861,  and  there 
Victor  Emmanuel  was  proclaimed  king  of  Italy.  Count  Ca- 
vour  died  shortly  after,  but  his  policy  of  bringing  his  coun- 
try into  European  politics  quickly  bore  fruit.  As  the  result  of 
Italy's  joining  the  war  between  Austria  and  Prussia  (1866),  she 
got  back  Venice  and  Verona.  Finally,  during  the  struggle 
between  France  and  Germany  (1870),  Napoleon  called  home 
the  French  troops  from  Rome,  and  Victor  Emmanuel  took 
possession  of  the  Eternal  City.  The  pope  ceased  to  be  a 
temporal  prince,  though  he  retained  his  spiritual  power. 


596  THE     NINETEENTH     CENTURY. 


V.    TURKEY. 

The  Progress  of  the  Turks  continued  after  the  fall  of 
Constantinople.  Mohammed  II.  overthrew  Greece  and 
threatened  Italy.  Bosnia  and  Albania  were  annexed.  The 
Crimea  was  wrested  from  the  Genoese.  Hungary  was  re- 
peatedly invaded.  Twice,  Vienna  itself  was  besieged.  All 
south-eastern  Europe  was  finally  conquered,  save  where 
the  Montenegrins  held  their  mountain  fastnesses.  Selim  I., 
Mohammed  II. 's  grandson,  extended  his  dominion  over 
Mesopotamia,  Assyria,  Syria,  and  Egypt.  The  reign  of 
Solyman,  his  son,  marked  the  acme  of  the  Turkish 
power  (p.  436). 

The  battle  of  Lepanto  (1571),  in  which  the  combined  fleets 
of  Spain,  Venice,  Genoa,  and  the  Pope,  under  Don  John  of 
Austria,  destroyed  the  Turkish  fleet,  was  the  turning-point 
in  the  Ottoman  progress.  From  that  time,  Poland,  Hun- 
gary, and  Austria,  steadily  drove  back  the  hated  infidel. 
Finally,  the  rise  of  Russia  in  the  18th  century  gave  the  Turk 
a  new  enemy.  Peter  the  Great  dreamed  of  making  the  Black 
Sea  a  Russian  lake,  and,  ever  since,  the  avowed  determi- 
nation of  Russia  has  been  the  conquest  of  the  effete  nation 
that  alone  shuts  off  the  mighty  northern  empire  from  the 
Mediterranean.  The  integrity  of  Turkey,  however,  has 
been,  of  late,  a  cardinal  principle  in  European  diplomacy. 
England  especially,  through  jealousy  of  Russia's  power  in 
India,  has  supported  the  Sultan.  Were  it  not  for  English 
interference,  the  remaining  four  millions  of  people  upon 
whom  there  fell,  at  the  beginning  of  Modern  history,  the 
calamity  of  Turkish  conquest,*  would  ere  this  have  achieved 

*  "  The  system  of  organized  robbery  which  is  known  in  Europe  by  the  name  of 
the  Turkish  government  has  changed  into  a  wilderness  one  of  the  fairest  regions  of 
the  world.  Population,  in  spite  of  the  amazing  wealth  of  the  soil,  is  steadily  declin- 
ing, and  has  already  sunk  to  less  than  one-third  of  its  numbers  under  the  Romans. 


GREECE.  597 

their  freedom,  and  the  unwelcome,  barbarous  Moslem  in- 
truders into  Europe  would  have  been  finally  expelled.  It  is 
a  hopeful  sign  that,  after  the  last  war  between  Turkey  and 
Russia,  the  Berlin  Treaty  (1878),  negotiated  by  the  Great 
Powers,  forced  the  Porte  to  give  up  vast  provinces  and  grant 
religious  toleration. 

VI.    GREECE. 

Greece  endured  the  hateful  Turkish  bondage  for  nearly 
four  hundred  years.  Every  rising  for  freedom  was  crushed 
with  terrible  cruelty.  In  the  year  1821,  however,  the  spirit 
of  liberty  flamed  into  inextinguishable  revolt.  Many  Eng- 
lishmen^— among  whom  Lord  Byron,  the  poet,  is  most  re- 
nowned— took  sides  with  this  heroic  people.  The  beautiful 
island  of  Scio  was  laid  waste  by  the  Ottomans  (1822) ;  and, 
the  next  year,  the  Suliote  patriot,  Marco  Bozzaris,  during  a 
night  attack  upon  the  enemy's  camp,  fell  in  the  moment  of 
victory.  In  this  desperate  contest  of  3^ears,  one-half  of  the 
population  is  said  to  have  perished,  and  large  tracts  of  land 
were  reduced  to  a  desert.  The  Turks  now  called  the  Egyp- 
tians to  their  help,  and  Greece  seemed  likely  to  be  over- 
whelmed. 

Finally,  England,  Russia,  and  France  formed  a  league  to 

So  powerfully  does  the  increasing  desolation  affect  the  mind,  that  recent  travelers 
have  expressed  the  apprehension  that  the  human  race  must  become  extinct  in  the 
Ottoman  dominions.  Enormous  tracts,  which  formerly  supported  in  comfort  a 
numerous  population,  are  now  abandoned.  The  once  populous  land  is  covered  with 
ruins,  often  hid  from  view  by  the  rank  vegetation  of  the  fertile  wilderness.  Between 
Angora  and  Constantinople,  forty  or  fifty  villages  have  become  extinct  during  the 
present  century.  Toward  Smyrna,  two  hundi'ed  villages  have  been  forsaken  since 
the  middle  of  last  century.  Smyrna  itself  has  declined  in  thirty  years  from  eighty 
thousand  inhabitants  to  forty-one  thousand.  During  the  present  century,  Candia 
has  sunk  from  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  to  ten  thousand.  A  traveler  in  the  north- 
em  portions  of  the  empire  found,  in  a  ride  of  seventy  miles  through  what  he  re- 
garded as  an  earthly  paradise,  not  so  much  as  a  single  inhabitant.  Approaching 
Constantinople  from  the  north,  one  rides  almost  to  the  gates  of  the  city  without  any 
trace  of  a  road  through  wild  grass  which  reaches  to  the  horse's  girths.  Nine-tenths 
of  Mesopotamia  lie  unused  by  man.  In  the  rich  provinces  of  Moldavia  and  Walla- 
chia  only  one-twentieth  of  the  soil  is  cultivated.  Never  has  the  goodness  of  Provi- 
dence been  so  utterly  frustrated,  during  long  centuries,  by  the  vileness  of  man." 


598  THE     KIKETEENTH     CEKTURY. 

aid  the  Hellenes  in  this  unequal  struggle.  Their  combined 
fleets  destroyed  the  Turkish  and  Egyptian  fleets  in  the  bay 
of  Navarino — the  old  Pylos  (1827).  The  French  troops 
drove  the  Egyptians  out  of  the  Peloponnesus.  So,  at  last, 
the  land  of  Plato  and  Pericles  was  free  again. 

VII.    THE    NETHERLANDS. 

The  Netherlands,  after  Louis  abdicated  the  throne,  was 
annexed  by  Napoleon  to  France.  In  1813,  the  people  threw 
off  the  French  yoke  and  recalled  the  House  of  Orange  to  the 
government.  The  Congress  of  Vienna  united  the  northern 
and  the  southern  provinces.  The  Belgians,  however,  disliked 
the  Hollanders,  and  a  spark  from  the  French  Revolution  of 
1830,  falling  among  this  restive  people,  kindled  the  flame  of 
insurrection.  The  independence  of  Belgium  was  declared, 
and  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha  was  called  to  the  throne. 

VIII.   JAPAN. 

The  Ruling  Dynasty  of  Japan  boasts  of  an  unbroken 
succession  during  twenty-five  centuries.  Its  founder,  their 
chronicles  assert,  was  Jimmu,  from  whom  the  present  Mikado, 
or  emperor,  is  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-third  in  direct 
descent.  The  assumed  date  of  Jimmu's  ascension  (660  B.  c.) 
is  styled  the  year  1  of  the  Japanese  era.*  In  the  sixth  century 
A.D.,  Buddhism  was  introduced  (through  Corea)  from  China  ; 
with  it  came  the  Asiatic  civilization.  A  stream  of  skilled 
artisans,  scholars,  teachers,  and  missionaries,  poured  into 
the  country,  and,  thenceforth,  the  Japanese  character  was 
molded  by  the  same  forces  that  gave  to  the  Celestial  em- 
pire its  peculiar  features. 

The  Shogun,  or  Tycoon,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 

*  This  chronology  woald  make  Jimma  a  contemporary  of  the  Assyrian  monarch 
Asshur-bani-pal  (p.  49). 


JAPAN.  599 

army,  acquired  in  1192  the  entire  control  of  political  affairs, 
the  Mikado  retaining  only  the  religious  supremacy  and  the 
symbols  of  royalty.  Under  this  dual  form  of  government, 
there  grew  up  a  feudal  system,  the  military  leaders,  or 
daimios,  securing  land  in  fief,  erecting  castles,  and  support- 
ing a  host  of  retainers.  This  relic  of  the  Middle  Ages  lasted 
until  1868,  when  a  revolution  restored  the  Mikado  to  supreme 
power,  destroyed  the  tShogun's  rule,  and  abolished  the  feudal 
titles  and  tenures.  At  the  command  of*  the  Mikado,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  vassal  nobles,  resigning  their  princely  incomes, 
lands,  and  retinues,  retired  to  private  life. 

The  Portuguese,  during  the  era  of  maritime  adventure 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  came  to  Japan.  The  missionary 
quickly  followed  the  sailor.  Francis  Xavier,  the  apostle  to 
the  Indies,  introduced  Christianity  (1549),  and,  in  time,  six 
hundred  thousand  converts  were  made.  This  second  influx 
of  foreign  civilization  was  stopped  by  the  expulsion  of  the 
Portuguese  and  a  violent  persecution  of  the  Christian  Japan- 
ese. The  history  of  the  church  in  Europe  presents  no  more 
devoted  faith  or  heroic  constancy  than  were  shown  by  the 
martyrs  of  this  bloody  period.  The  Dutch  alone  were  allowed 
a  residence  upon  an  island  in  the  harbor  of  Nagasaki,  and  to 
exchange  a  single  ship-load  of  merchandise  per  year. 

Commodore  Perry,  with  a  squadron  of  United  States 
vessels,  entered  the  harbor  of  Yokahama  (1854).  He  made  a 
treaty  with  Japan  and  secured  the  opening  of  certain  ports  to 
our  trade.  Since  then,  the  third  foreign  wave  has  s  wept  over 
the  Sun-land.  Successive  commei-cial  treaties  have  been  made. 
The  former  exclusiveness  has  been  broken  down,  old  ideas 
have  been  uprooted,  and  the  nation  has  been  thrust  into  the 
path  of  modern  civilization.  In  1875,  the  Mikado  established 
a  senate  ;  in  1878,  he  inaugurated  provincial  and  depart- 
mental assemblies;  and,  in  1881,  he  promised  to  convoke  in 


600 


THE     NINETEENTH     CENTUBY. 


1890  a  national  congress.  Thus,  in  Japan,  a  single  genera- 
tion will  witness  governmental  changes  that  required  in 
Europe  centuries  to  perfect. 


READING    REFERENCES. 


For  works  on  the  French  Hevolution,  seep.  558.—MUlIer's  History  of  Recent  Times, 
translated  by  Peters  {commended  to  all  as  an  excellent  resume  of  General  Histwyfrom 
1816-81).— McCarthy's  Epoch  of  Reform  {Epochs  of  History  Series).— Griffith's  The 
Mikado's  Empire.— McCartJii/'s  History  of  Our  Own  Times.— Kinglake's  Invasion 
of  the  Crimea.— Hunt's  History  of  Italy  {Freeman' s  Historical  Course).— May's  Con- 
stitutional History  of  England  {especially  valuable  in  its  account  of  reforms).— Mac- 
kenzie's The  Nineteenth  Century.— Wrightson's  History  of  Modem  Italy,  1815-50.— 
Felion's  Ancient  and  Modem  Greece. 


THE    FOUR    CLASSES    OF    JAPANESE    SOCIETY — MILITARY,    AGRICULTURAL,   LABORING,   AND 

MERCANTILE. 
(From  a  Drawing  by  a  Native  Artist.) 


APPENDIX. 


THE  SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD,  as  reckoned  by  the 
Greeks,  were  The  Egyptian  Pyramids,  The  Temple,  Walls  and 
Hanging-garden  of  Babylon,  The  Greek  Statue  of  Jupiter  at  Olympia, 
The  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  The  Mausoleum  at  Halicarnassus, 
The  Pharos  at  Alexandria,  and  The  Colossus  of  Rhodes.  All  but  the 
last  three  have  already  been  described. 

The  Mausoleum  was  a  monument  erected  by  Artemisia,  Queen  of 
Caria  (b.  c.  353),  to  her  deceased  husband  Mausolus.  It  was  built  of 
the  most  precious  marbles,  and  decorated  in  the  highest  style  of  Grecian 
art.  Its  cost  was  so  immense  that  the  philosopher  Anaxagoras  on 
seeing  it,  exclaimed  "  How  much  money  is  changed  into  stone  ! "  Not 
a  vestige  of  it  now  remains. 

The  Pharos  was  a  light-house  built  by  the  first  two  Ptolemies  on 
the  isle  of  Pharos.  The  wrought  stone  of  which  it  was  constructed 
was  adorned  with  columns,  balustrades,  etc.,  of  the  finest  marble. 
The  tower,  protected  by  a  sea-wall,  stood  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
high,  and  its  light  could  be  seen  for  one  hundred  miles. 

The  Colossus  of  Rhodes  was  a  brazen  statue  of  Apollo,  one  hundred 
and  five  feet  high,  standing  with  extended  feet  on  the  two  moles  form- 
ing the  Rhodian  harbor.  It  was  overthrown  by  an  earthquake  (224  B.C.). 
The  Delphic  oracle  having  forbade  its  re-erection,  it  lay  in  ruins  for 
nine  centuries,  when  it  was  sold  by  the  Saracens  to  a  Jew,  who  loaded 
nine  hundred  camels  with  the  metal. 

The  Seven  Wise  Men  were  variously  named  even  in  Greece.  The 
following  translation  of  a  Grecian  doggerel  gives  one  version  : 

*'  I'll  tell  the  names  and  sayings  and  the  places  of  their  birth 
Of  the  Seven  great  ancient  Sages,  so  renowned  on  Grecian  earth. 
The  Lindian  Cleobulus  said,  '  The  man  was  still  the  best'; 
The  Spartan  Chilo^  '  Know  thyself,'  a  heaven-born  phrase  confessed  ; 
Corinthian  Periander  taught '  Our  anger  to  command  ■•; 
*  Too  much  of  nothing,'  Pittacus^  from  Mitylene's  strand  : 
Athenian  Solon  this  advised,  '  Look  to  the  end  of  life '; 
And  Bias  from  Priene  showed  '  Bad  men  are  the  most  rife  '; 
Milesian  Thales  urged  that '  None  should  e'er  a  surety  be  '; 
Few  were  these  words,  but,  if  you  look,  you'll  much  in  little  see." 

—Collinses  A  ncient  Classics. 


HISTORICAL    RECREATIONS. 

ANCIENT     PEOPLES. 

1.  How  did  a  workman's  scribble,  made  thousands  of  years  ago, 
preserve  a  royal  name  and  link  it  to  a  monument? 

2.  What  king  ordered  the  sea  to  be  whipped  because  the  waves 
had  injured  his  bridges? 

3.  Who  among  the  Ancients  were  the  greatest  sailors  ?  Who  had 
a  religious  horror  of  the  sea? 

4.  What  kings  took  a  pet  lion  when  they  went  to  war?  Who 
once  took  cats  and  dogs  ?  Who  used  elephants  in  battle?  Camels? 
Scythed  chariots? 

5.  What  is  the  oldest  book  in  the  world? 

6.  Compare  the  character  of  an  Egyptian  and  an  Assyrian.  An 
Egyptian  and  a  Chinaman.     A  Babylonian  and  a  Persian. 

7.  What  king  was  so  overwhelmed  by  his  successes  that  he  prayed 
for  a  reverse  ? 

8.  What  Roman  emperor  gave  up  his  throne  to  enjoy  his  cabbage- 
garden  ? 

9.  'What  emperor  once  convened  the  senate  to  decide  how  to  cook 
a  fish? 

ID.  Who  gained  a  kingdom  by  the  neighing  of  a  horse  ? 

11.  Who  is  the  oldest  literary  critic  on  record  ? 

12.  What  was  the  "  Dispensary  of  the  Soul  "? 

13.  Who  was  the  ''Egyptian  Alexander  the  Great"? 

14.  What  statue  was  reported  to  sing  at  sunrise  ? 

15.  Which  of  the  earliest  races  is  noted  for  intellectual  vigor?  For 
religious  fervor  ?     For  massive  architecture  ? 

16.  What  is  the  "  Book  of  the  Dead "?  The  Zend-Avesta  ?  The 
Epic  of  Pentaur?     The  Rig-Veda? 

17.  Who  had  a  palace  at  Nimroud  ?  At  Koyunjik  ?  At  Khorsabad  ? 
At  Persepolis?     At  Luxor?     At  Karnak  ?     At  Susa  ? 

18.  Compare  the  character  of  a  Spartan  and  an  Athenian.  A  Roman 
and  a  Greek. 

19.  What  people  made  the  intoxication  of  their  king  an  annual 
display? 

20.  What  city  was  called  the  "  Daughter  of  Sidon  and  the  Mother 
of  Carthage"?  What  was  the  "School  of  Greece"?  The  "Eye  of 
Greece"?     The  "Seven-hilled  City"? 

21.  What  king  had  a  servant  remind  him  three  times  a  day  of  a 
proposed  vengeance  ? 

22.  Who  fought  and  who  won  the  battle  of  Marathon?  Plataea? 
Thermopylae?     Salamis?     Himera?     Mycale? 

23.  Who  were  the  Cyclops  ? 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS.  iii 

24.  Where  and  when  were  iron  rings  used  as  currency  ?  Gold  and 
silver  rings  ?     Engraved  gems  ? 

25.  Who  was  Asshurbanipal  ?  Tiglath-Pileser  ?  Khufu  ?  Seti  ? 
Asshur-izir-pal  ?     Sennacherib?     Cyrus?     Cambyses  ? 

26.  Which,  do  you  think,  was  the  most  religious  nation?  The 
most  warlike  ?  The  most  patient  ?  The  most  intellectual  ?  The  most 
artistic  ? 

27.  Where  were  animals  worshipped  ?  The  sun  ?  The  planets  ? 
The  elements?     Vegetables?     The  Evil  Spirit  ? 

28.  Who  built  the  Great  Wall  of  China?  The  Great  Pyramid? 
The  Labyrinth  ? 

29  How  were  women  treated  in  Egypt?  In  Assyria?  In  Persia? 
In  Athens?     In  Sparta?     In  Rome? 

30.  Who  was  Buddha?  Sebak  ?  Pasht?  Thoth  ?  Bel?  Ishtar? 
Moloch?     Asshur?     Ormazd  ?     Nin  ?     Nergal  ?     Baal? 

31.  How  many  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  kings  can  you  mention 
who  bore  the  names  of  gods  ? 

32.  How  did  a  Babylonian  gentleman  compliment  the  gods? 

33.  What  does  the  word  Pharaoh  or  Phrah  mean?  Ans.  According 
to  some  authorities  it  means  the  sun,  from  the  Egyptian  "  ph-Ra";  by 
others  it  is  derived  from  "  pe-raa,"  grand  house,  a  title  corresponding 
to  our  "Sublime  Porte." 

34.  Who  was  the  Religious  Conqueror? 

35.  What  were  the  Pools  of  Peace  ?     The  realms  of  Hades  ? 

36.  Who  wasChing  Wang?  Nebuchadnezzar?  Darius?  The  Last 
of  the  Ptolemies? 

37.  Who  was  the  "  False  Smerdis"? 

38.  What  besieged  king  burned  himself  with  his  palace? 

39.  What  city  was  captured  by  changing  the  course  of  a  river? 

40.  What  nations  believed  in  the  transmigration  of  souls  ? 

41.  When  was  the  Era  of  Nabonassar?  The  First  Olympiad  ?  The 
Age  of  Pericles? 

42.  What  famous  slory  is  related  of  Cornelia,  the  mother  of  the 
Gracchi  ? 

43.  Mention  the  ornaments  worn  by  gentlemen  in  ancient  times. 

44.  Who  was  the  real  Sardanapalus  ?     Sesostris? 

45.  What  religion  teaches  that  the  vilest  insects  and  even  the  seeds 
of  plants  have  souls? 

46.  What  poem  is  called  the  Egyptian  Iliad  ? 

47.  What  Roman  emperor  resembled  Louis  XI  of  France  in 
character  ? 

48.  Who  was  Herodotus?  Manetho?  Thucydides  ?  Livy?  Xeno- 
phon?     Tacitus?     Sallust  ?     Caesar? 

49.  What  is  meant  by  "  Seceding  to  the  Sacred  Mount  "? 


IV  HISTORICAL     RECREATION'S. 

50.  What  great  war  was  begun  through  helping  some  pirates? 

51.  What  nation  considered  theft  a  virtue? 

52.  What  Greek  was  called  by  Solon  "  A  bad  imitation  of  Ulysses  "' 

53.  Wh^t  was  the  original  meaning  oi slave?     Of  tyrant? 

54.  Who  sculptured  the  famous  Niobe  Group? 

55.  What  are  the  "  Elgin  Marbles"? 

56.  Who  were  the  "  Lost  Tribes  "? 

57.  A  great  king  married  the  "  Pearl  of  the  East."  Who  was  he  ? 
Who  was  she  ?    Why  did  he  marry  her  ? 

58.  Who  were  the  Perioeki?  The  Helots?  The  Spartans?  The 
Dorians?     The  lonians?     The  Hellenes? 

59.  What  is  meant  by  "  Taking  Egerean  Counsel "? 

60.  What  was  the  Amphictyonic  Council  ?  The  Council  of  the 
Elders  ?    The  Court  of  Areopagus  ? 

61.  Name  the  principal  battles  of  the  Persian  Wars.  The  Punic 
Wars. 

62.  Who  engaged  in  the  Messenian  Wars  ? 

63.  What  were  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World  ? 

64.  Name  the  Seven  Wise  Men  with  their  mottoes. 

65.  What  Roman  emperor  amused  himself  by  spearing  flies? 

66.  Who  were  the  "  Five  Good  Emperors"  of  Rome? 

67.  Name  the  most  important  Egyptian  kings.  What  can  you  tell 
about  them  ? 

68.  Describe  the  ceremonies  of  the  Magi. 

69.  What  priest  wore  a  leopard  skin  as  a  badge  of  office? 

70.  What  is  the  Rosetta  Stone?     The  Behistun  Inscription? 

71.  Describe  the  Homa  ceremony. 

72.  What  was  the  Apis?    "  The  Lights"? 

73.  Tell  what  you  can  of  the  Memnonium.  The  Colosseum.  The 
Ramesseum.  The  Colossus  of  Rhodes.  The  Hanging  Gardens  of 
Babylon. 

74.  Who  was  the  greatest  builder  among  the  Pharaohs? 

75.  What  country  forbade  its  priests  to  wear  woolen  undergarments? 

76.  Compare  the  dress  and  ceremonies  of  an  Egyptian  priest  and 
a  Roman  flamen. 

77.  Where  was  the  Parthenon  ?  The  Palace  of  the  Caesars  ?  The 
Erechtheium?    The  "Temple  of  the  Sphinx  "? 

78.  What  people  had  no  sacred  books? 

79.  Who  were  the  greatest  borrowers  among  the  Ancients? 

80.  What  is  the  difference  between  hieroglyphics  and  cuneiform 
writing?     What  peoples  used  them ? 

81.  What  people  used  to  write  on  the  shoulder-bones  of  animals? 

82.  Mention  all  the  writing  implements  you  can  remember  and  the 
peoples  who  used  them. 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS.  V 

83.  Who  was  Pindar  ?  Simonides  ?  Horace?  Sappho?  Hesiod  ? 
Anacreon  ? 

84.  When  was  an  army  driven  with  whips  to  an  assault? 

85.  Who  was  "  Little  Boot "? 

86.  Give  the  origin  of  the  word  Vandal. 

87.  How  did  a  ray  from  the  setting  sun  once  save  a  city? 

88.  What  king  sat  on  a  marble  throne  while  reviewing  his  army?  ' 
8g.  What  emperor  once  lighted  his  grounds  with  burning   Chris- 
tians ? 

90.  What  people  wore  a  golden  grasshopper  as  a  head-ornament  ? 
What  did  it  signify  ? 

gi.  Describe  the  Alexandrian  Museum  and  Library. 

92.  What  was  the  Athenian  L3'ceum  ?     The  Academy? 

93.  What  Greek  philosopher  kept  a  drug-store  in  Athens  ? 

94.  Describe  the  building  of  a  pyramid. 

95.  What  is  the  oldest  account  of  the  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man? 
The  oldest  story  of  the  Deluge  ? 

96.  How  many  great  men  can  you  name  who  died  in  prison  ?  Who 
were  assassinated  ?  Who  voluntarily  committed  suicide  ?  Who  were 
sentenced  by  law  to  kill  themselves  ? 

97.  In  what  country  was  the  eating  of  a  fried  fish  a  religious  cere- 
mony? 

98.  What  king  began  his  reign  by  glorifying  his  father,  and  ended 
it  by  erasing  his  father's  name  from  the  temple  walls  and  substituting 
his  own  ? 

99.  Mention  the  twelve  great  Grecian  gods  with  their  attributes. 

100.  What  was  the  kinship  of  Isis,  Osiris,  and  Horus,  according  to 
Egyptian  mythology  ? 

loi.  Where  did  people  ride  on  a  seat  strapped  between  two 
donkeys  ? 

102.  What  great  Greek  philosopher  was  an  oil  speculator  ? 

103.  Who  were  the  Cynics  ? 

104.  Describe  a  Chaldean  home. 

105.  What  people  buried  their  dead  in  stone  jars  ?  Who  embalmed 
their  dead  ?  Who  buried  them  in  honey  ?  Who  exposed  them  to  wild 
beasts  ?  Who  burned  them  ?  Who  covered  them  with  wax  before 
burial  ?     Who  made  feasts  for  them  ? 

106.  Describe  the  education  of  an  Egyptian  boy.     A  Persian  boy. 

107.  Who  were  the  "  Ten-Thousand  Immortals  "? 

108.  Describe  a  Persian  military  march. 

109.  Who  invented  the  alphabet  ? 

no.  What  happened  in  an  Egyptian  house  when  a  cat  died?  A 
dog? 

in.  Describe  an  Assyrian  lion-hunt. 


VI  HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS. 

112.  What  nation  excelled  in  sculptured  bas-relief?  In  brick- 
enameling  ?     In  bronze  and  marble  statuary  ?     In  gem-cutting  ? 

113.  Compare  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  art.     Religion.     Literature. 

114.  Describe  an  Assyrian  royal  banquet.  A  Persian  banquet  of 
wine. 

115.  What  national  architecture  was  distinguished  by  pyramids  and 
obelisks  ?     By  tall,  slender  pillars  and  elaborate  staircases  ? 

116.  What  nations  built  their  houses  on  high  platforms  ? 

T17.  Describe  the  education  of  a  Spartan  boy.  An  Athenian.  A 
Roman. 

118.  How  did  the  Assyrians  go  to  war? 

119.  Who  was  called  the  "  Third  Founder  of  Rome"? 

120.  How  many  times  in  Roman  history  was  the  Temple  of  Janus 
closed  ?     Ans.  Eight. 

121.  What  city  was  entitled  "  The  Eldest  Daughter  of  the  Empire  "? 

122.  Who  boasted  that  grass  never  grew  where  his  horse  had 
trodden  ? 

123.  What  did  Europe  gain  by  the  battle  of  Chalons  ? 

124.  Describe  a  Macedonian  phalanx. 

125.  Who  were  the  "  Tragic  Trio  "  of  Greece  ?    The  Historical  Trio  ? 

126.  What  people  covered  the  mouth  of  their  dead  with  gold-leaf? 
Who  provided  their  dead  with  money  to  pay  their  fare  across  the  River 
Styx  ?  Who  furnished  them  with  dates  for  refreshment  in  the  Spirit- 
world  ? 

127.  Describe  the  stationery  of  the  Egyptians.  The  Assyrians  and 
Babylonians.     The  Persians.     The  Greeks  and  Romans. 

128.  Who  made  the  first  discovery  of  an  Assyrian  monument? 
I2g.  What  people  used  second-hand  coffins? 

130.  What  nation  cased  the  beams  of  their  palaces  with  bronze  ? 
Who  overlaid  them  with  silver  and  gold  ? 

131.  What  modern  archaeologist  claims  to  have  discovered  the 
remains  of  Ancient  Troy?     Where  were  Cesnola's  discoveries  made? 

132.  How  did  Rameses  II  and  Asshurbanipal  resemble  each  other  ? 

133.  Describe  the  contents  and  one  of  the  regulations  of  Asshur- 
banipal's  library. 

134.  Who  is  your  favorite  Greek  ?     Your  favorite  Roman  ? 

135.  What  people  loaded  the  roofs  of  their  houses  with  earth  as  a 
protection  from  sun  and  rain  ?  Who  had  roof-gardens  ?  [In  Italy  and 
in  the  East  roof-gardens  are  still  common.] 

136.  When  and  where  were  bronze  and  iron  used  for  jewelry  ? 

137.  In  what  country  was  it  considered  disreputable  for  a  gentleman 
to  walk  the  streets  without  a  cane  ? 

138.  In  what  country  did  gentlemen  wear  cylinders  on  their  wrists  ? 
For  what  did  they  use  them  ? 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS.  VII 

139.  How  did  the  views  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Persians  differ  in 
regard  to  fire  and  cremation  ? 

140.  Describe  an  Egyptian  funeral.     A  Greek.     A  Roman. 

141.  Who  sowed  corn  over  newly-made  graves  ? 

142.  Describe  an  Egyptian  nobleman's  home. 

143.  Compare  ^schylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides. 

144.  Who  was  Aristophanes?  Menander?  Plautus?  Terence? 
Lucian  ? 

145.  What  people  entertained  a  mummy  as  a  guest  at  parties? 

146.  Who  were  the  Sargonidae  ?  Sassanidae  ?  Seleucidae  ?  Alc- 
maeonidae  ?     Heraclidae  ? 

147.  Name  the  great  men  of  the  Age  of  Pericles.  Of  the  Augustan 
Age. 

148.  Describe  a  Theban  dinner-party.  A  Greek  symposium.  A 
Roman  banquet. 

149.  How  did  an  Egyptian  fight?  An  Assyrian  ?  A  Babylonian? 
A  Persian  ?     A  Greek  ?     A  Roman  ? 

150.  Name  the  principal  battles  before  the  time  of  Christ. 

151.  Describe  a  Spartan  home.     An  Athenian.     A  Roman. 

152.  What  Egyptian  king  changed  the  course  of  a  river  in  order  to 
found  a  city  ? 

153.  Describe  the  Magian  rites. 

154.  Toll  what  you  can  of  a  Roman  Vestal. 

155.  Who  were  the  Three  Graces?  Three  Fates?  Three  Hes- 
perides?    Three  Harpies?     Three  Gorgons  ?     Three  Furies? 

156.  Describe  the  Nine  Muses. 

157.  For  what  was  the  Pnyx  celebrated  ?     The  Areopagus? 

158.  In  what  country  was  it  considered  unamiable  for  a  wife  to  refuse 
to  wear  her  husband's  clothes  ? 

159.  What  philosopher  is  said  to  have  lived  in  a  tub? 

160.  What  kind  of  table-napkins  did  the  Greeks  use  ? 

161.  Who  was  the  "Blind  Bard"?  The  *'Poet  of  the  Helots"? 
The  "  Lame,  old  Schoolmaster  "?  The  "  Lesbian  Nightingale  "?  The 
"  Theban  Eagle  "?    The  '*  Attic  Bee  "?     The  "  Mantuan  Bard  "? 

162.  Who  was  called  the  "  Light  of  Mankind  "? 

163.  What  poets  dropped  their  shield  in  battle  and  ran  from  danger? 

164.  How  many  Greek  poets  can  you  name  ?     Latin  poets  ? 

165.  What  were  the  "  Four  Great  Schools  of  Philosophy"? 

166.  A  great  philosopher,  when  burlesqued  in  a  famous  play, 
mounted  a  bench  that  the  audience  might  compare  him  with  his  ridic- 
ulous counterpart.  Who  was  he  ?  Who  wrote  the  play  ?  Were  they 
friends? 

167.  In  what  city  was  cock-and-quail  fighting  enjoined  by  law  as  an 
instructive  exhibition  ? 


Vlll  HISTORICAL     EECREATIONS. 

i68.  What  Greek  poet  likened  himself  to  a  porcupine? 

169.  Who  was  Confucius?     Lycurgus?     Draco?     ^sop?     Solon? 

170.  Describe  the  peculiar  tactics  that  decided  the  battle  of  Mara- 
thon.   Leuctra.    Chaeronea,     Cannae. 

171.  What  were  the  Philippics  ? 

172.  What  great  poets  were  linked  with  the  battle  of  Salamis  ? 

173.  Where,  and  as  a  reward  for  what,  was  a. wreath  of  olive  con- 
ferred ?     Of  pa,rsley  ?     Of  laurel  ?     Of  pine  ? 

174.  What  great  orator  was  given  a  golden  crown  for  his  public 
services  ? 

175.  What  were  the  Eleusinian  mysteries?      What  great  poet   is 
connected  with  them  ? 

176.  What  was  a  Greek  trilogy? 

177.  Who  wrote  a  history  named  after  the  Nine  Muses? 

178.  Who  was  Phidippides?    Cleisthenes?    Leonidas  ?     Pausanias? 

179.  Compare  the  style  of  Xenophon  and  of  Thucydides. 

180.  Who  was  the  first  authenticated  "  reporter"? 

181.  What  philosopher  was  tried  for  atheism  because  he  believed  in 
One  great  God  ? 

182.  Tell  what  you  can  of  Pythagoras.    Socrates.    Plato.    Aristotle. 
Zeno. 

183.  Who  was  Cimon  ?     Pericles  ?     Aristides  ?     Themistocles  ? 

184.  Who  was  Mardonius?     Xerxes?     Miltiades  ? 

185.  Describe   a   Babylonian   wedding.      A   Greek   wedding.      A 
Roman  wedding. 

186.  Describe  the  Panathenaia.     The  Feast  of  Dionysos. 

187.  Compare  the  Babylonian  Sacees  and  the  Roman  Saturnalia. 

188.  Who  were  Hippias  and  Hipparchus?     Who  was  Pisistratus? 

189.  Who  was  Cleopatra  ?     Mark  Antony  ?     Brutus  ?     Pompey  ? 

190.  What  great  philosopher  was  born  the  year  that  Pericles  died  ? 
19T.  W^hat  great  historian  died  in  the  year  of  the  "  Retreat  of  the 

Ten  Thousand  "? 

192.  Who  formed  the  "  First  Triumvirate  "?    The  Second  ? 

193.  In  what  siege  did  the  women  braid  their  long  hair  into  bow- 
strings  ? 

194.  Who  were  the  Seven  Sages  ?  , 

195.  How  did  Hannibal  lose  an  eye  ? 

196.  On  what  field  did  the  Macedonian  phalanx  fight  its  last  battle  ? 
197.'  What  was  the  characteristic  of  the  first  two  centuries  of  the 

Roman  republic  ? 

198.  How  did  the  phrase  *'  Romans  and  Quirites"  arise? 

199.  Describe  a  triumphal  entrance  into  Rome. 

200.  What  were  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  ? 

201.  Tell  the  story  of  the  "  Rape  of  the  Sabines." 


HISTOKICAL     RECREATIONS.  IX 

202.  Who  refused  a  gift  of  land  because  he  already  possessed  seven 
acres  ? 

203.  How  did  Hannibal  once  outwit  Fabius? 

204.  Tell  the  story  of  the  capture  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls. 

205.  In  what  battle  was  a  bushel  of  gold  rings  a  part  of  the  spoils? 

206.  In  what  year  did  Nineveh  fall  ?     Babylon  ? 

207.  During  what  battle  did  an  earthquake  occur  without  being 
noticed  by  the  combatants  ? 

208.  What  province  was  left  to  the  Romans  by  will  ? 

209.  What  mathematician  was  killed  in  the  midst  of  a  problem  ? 

210.  Who  was  Pliny  the  Younger's  dearest  friend  ? 

211.  What  famous  general  sat  amid  the  ruins  of  a  great  city  and 
quoted  Homer? 

212.  What  warriors  trimmed  their  hair  on  the  eve  of  a  battle  ? 

213.  Distinguish  between  the  different  Scipios.     The  two  Catos. 
The  two  Plinys. 

214.  What  poet  was  commemorated  by  the  statue  of  a  drunken  old 
man  ? 

215.  What  general  declared  that  the  greatest  joy  he  had  in  a  victory 
was  the  pleasure  his  success  would  give  to  his  parents  ? 

216.  What  emperor  boasted  that  he  found  his  capital  of  brick  and 
left  it  of  marble  ? 

217.  What  emperor  wore  a  toga  woven  by  his  wife  and  daughters? 

218.  Who  were  Alexander's  favorite  artists  ?     Who  was  his  tutor  ? 
2ig.  What  was  the  Roman  Poor  Law  ? 

220.  How  many  Roman  emperors  were  murdered?      How  many 
committed  suicide  ?     How  many  died  a  natural  death  ? 

221.  In  what  country  were  fat  men  suspected  ? 

222.  What  battle  ended  the  Roman  republic  ? 

223.  What  great  philosopher  died  the  same  year  with  Demosthenes? 
Which  was  the  elder  ? 

224.  Describe  "  A  Day  in  Rome."     A  Roman  home. 

225.  Describe  the  different  modes  of  publishing  books  in  ancient 
times. 

226.  When  was  the  Era  of  Martyrs  ?     Of  the  Thirty  Tyrants  ? 

227.  What  king  had  the  title  "  Conqu'eror  of  Babylon"  inscribed 
upon  his  signet-ring  ? 

228.  Describe  a  morning  in  Nineveh. 

229.  Tell  something  connected  with  Mt.  Olympus.     Mt.  Parnassus. 
Mt.  Hymettus.     Mt.  Sinai.     Mt.  Pentelicus. 

230.  How  did  his  Roman  citizenship  help  St.  Paul  ? 

231.  When  did  elephants  win  a  battle? 

232.  When  did  the  Grecians  fight  in  Italy? 

233.  Who  were  the  road-builders  of  antiquity? 


X  HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS. 

234.  Show  how  the  struggle  of  each  petty  Grecian  state  for  autonomy 
prevented  the  unity  and  prosperity  of  Greece. 

235.  Compare  the  personal  rights  of  man  among  the  ancients  with 
those  that  he  enjoys  among  the  Christian  nations  of  to-day. 

236.  Describe  the  mode  of  Rome's  growth  as  a  nation. 

237.  What  was  the  character  of  Rome's  government  over  her 
provinces? 

238.  Under  what  emperor  did  all  the  provincials  acquire  Roman 
citizenship  ? 

239.  Explain  the  expression  :  Chaeronea  was  the  coffin,  as  Marathon 
was  the  cradle,  of  Hellenic  liberty. 

240.  What  was  the  origin  of  the  word  Politics?     Pagan? 

241.  Who  first  used  the  expression,  *'  Delenda  est  Carthago"? 

242.  Narrate  the  circumstances  of  the  death  of  Archimedes. 

243.  Describe  the  three  popular  assemblies  of  Rome. 

244.  How  did  the  Romans  procure  a  model  for  the  ships  of  their 
first  fleet? 

245.  What  hostile  general  once  threw  a  javelin  over  the  walls  of 
Rome? 

24.6.  Who  said,  "It  is  easier  to  turn  the  sun  from  its  course  than 
Fabricius  from  the  path  of  honor  "? 

247.  Tell  the  story  of  Lucretia.  Virginia.  Horatius  Codes. 
Mucins.  Romulus  and  Remus.  Coriolanus.  Cincinnatus.  Camillus. 
Marcus  Manlius.     Quintus  Curtius.     Decius.     Caius  Pontius. 

248.  Name  the  twelve  Csesars. 

249.  For  what  is  the  date  146  b.  c.  noted  ? 

250.  Describe  the  funeral  of  a  Roman  emperor. 


HISTORICAL     HECREATlONS.  XI 

HISTORICAL   RECREATIONS. 

MEDIAEVAL,     AND     MODERN     PEOPLES. 

..  On  a  monument  of  Canova's  in  St.  Peter's  is  inscribed  the  fol- 
lowing names  of  British  sovereigns — James  III.,  Charles  III.,  and 
Henry  IX.     Who  were  they  ? 

2.  Who  was  the  "Snow  King"?     The  "  Winter  King"  ? 

3.  We  read,  in  the  history  of  France,  of  the  "  Constitution  of  the  Year 
III.";  the  "  Constitution  of  the  Year  VIII.";  the  "  Revolution  of  the  i8th 
Brumaire";  the  "  Revolution  of  the  i8th  Fructidor,"  etc.    Explain. 

4.  A  historian  says,  "  Morgarten  was  the  Marathon  of  Switzer- 
land."    Explain, 

5.  What  great  war  was  waging  in  Europe  during  our  War  of  1812? 

6.  Who  was  said  to  be  the  "  First  man  in  Europe  and  the  second  in 
France  "? 

7.  In  what  great  emergency  did  the  Dutch  propose  to  imitate  the 
Athenians? 

8.  Compare  Cardinals  Wolsey  and  Richelieu, 

9.  It  is  said  the  "  Duke  of  Guise  under  Henry  III.  threatened  to  be 
another  Pepin  to  a  second  Childeric."     Explain. 

10.  Who  were  the  "  Sea  Beggars  "? 

11.  Who  was  the  "  Nephew  of  his  uncle  "? 

12.  Name  the  revolutions  in  France  since  1789. 

13.  What  names  of  kings  are  common  to  England,  France,  and 
Germany  ? 

14.  What  name  is  confined  to  England?  France?  Germany? 
Russia? 

15.  Which  was  the  most  illustrious  Henry  of  England?  France? 
Germany?  , 

16.  What  woman  was  the  prime-mover  in  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew ? 

17.  What  English  king  had  six  wives? 

18.  What  English  king  assumed  the  title  of  King  of  France? 

19.  Compare  the  Charleses  of  England  with  those  of  France. 

20.  How  many  kings  ruled  in  England  during  the  reign  of  Louis 
XIV.? 

21.  What  was  the  difference  between  the  titles  "  King  of  the  Ro- 
mans "  and  "Emperor  of  Germany"? 

22.  What  German  king  kept  an  English  king'in  prison  until  ran- 
somed ? 


xii  HISTORICAL     BECREATIOKS. 

23.  Name  the  German  emperors  who  led  an  army  into  Italy. 

24.  Who  was  the  "  First  Gentleman  in  Europe  "? 

25.  Who  was  the  "  Little  man  in  red  stockings  "? 

26.  When  did  Russia  first  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  western  Europe? 

27.  Which  is  the  oldest  nation  in  Europe?     The  youngest? 

28.  Who  was  the  "  Last  of  the  Tribunes"? 

29.  Who  was  the  "  Madman  of  the  North  "? 

30.  What  Stuart  sovereign  did  not  meet  a  tragical  end  ? 

31.  What  high  office  did  Wolsey  hope  to  secure? 

32.  Who  was  the  "  Silent  One  "? 

33.  What  was  the  Babylonish  Captivity? 

34.  Who  was  the  "  First  of  the  Stuarts  "? 

35.  Name  the  different  World's  Fairs. 

36.  What  were  the  so-called  Reform  Banquets? 

37.  Who  was  the  "  Conqueror  of  Crecy  "? 

38.  Describe  the  Revolutions  of  1848  in  the  different  countries  of 
Europe. 

39.  What  three  English  kings,  each  the  third  of  his  name,  reigned 
over  fifty  years  ? 

40.  When  did  France  have  a  crazy  king?     England  ? 

41.  Who  was  the  first  of  the  Norman  Kings  to  die  in  England  ? 

42.  Who  was  the  "  Merry  Monarch  "? 

43.  State  the  time,  the  cause,  and  the  result  upon  Prussia,  of  the 
Seven- Years  War.     The  Seven-Months  War.     The  Seven-Weeks  War. 

44.  Who  was  the  "  Conqueror  of  Blenheim  "? 

45.  The  Scots  termed  the  Pretender,  "James  VIII."     Explain. 

46.  What  corresponding  financial  bubbles  were  blown  in  England 
and  in  France  early  in  the  i8th  century  ? 

47.  Who  was  the-"  Great  Commoner  "? 

48.  Explain  the  sentence  in  Macaulay's  History:  "Hundreds  of 
thousands  whom  the  Popish  Plot  had  scared  into  Whiggism,  had  been^ 
scared  back  by  the  Rye  House  Plot  into  Toryism." 

49.  Who  was  called  the  "  Best  of  the  Georges  "? 

50.  Who  was  I^ouis  XVII.  of  France  ? 

51.  Who  was  "  King  Hal  "? 

52.  Who  was  Napoleon  II.  of  France? 

53.  A  historian  remarks,  "  In  1806,  the  120th  of  the  Csesars  became 
only  Francis  II.  of  Austria."     Explain. 

54.  Who  was  the  "  Citizen  King  "? 

55.  Whom  did  Carlyle  style  the  "  Great  Prussian  Drill  Sergeant"? 

56.  Who  was  the  *'  Conqueror  of  Azincourt "? 

57.  How  many  republics  have  been  established  in  France? 

58.  Name  the  principal  battles  of  Conde. 

59.  A  historian  remarking  upon  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI,  of  France, 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIOKS.  XIU 

says,  "  There  was  now  no  Mayor  of  the  Palace,  no  Count  of  Paris,  no 
Henry  IV,,  to  found  a  new  dynasty."     Explain. 

60.  Who  was  "Queen  Bess"? 

61.  What  was  the  cause  of  the  long  hostility  between  England  and 
France  ? 

62.  What  is  the  European  States- System  ? 

63.  Who  was  the  "  Iron  Duke  "? 

64.  Who  was  the  "  Greatest  of  the  Plantagenets  "? 

65.  State  the  origin  of  the  Methodists.      The  Friends. 

66.  When  was  the  last  States-General  in  France  convened  ? 

67.  Who  wfas  the  first  Prince  of  Wales  ? 

68.  Who  was  the  "  King  of  Bourges"? 

69.  Describe  the  effect  of  the  Norman  Conquest  of  England. 

70.  When  Charles  XII.  invaded  Russia,  Peter  said:  "  My  brother 
Charles  affects  to  play  the  part  of  Alexander;  but  I  think  he  will  not 
find  in  me  a  Darius."    Explain. 

71.  Who  was  the  "  Old  Pretender"?     The  "  Young  Pretender"? 

72.  What  prime-minister  governed  the  English  Parliament  by 
bribery  ? 

73.  Who  was  "Good  Queen  Anne"? 

74.  Contrast  the  conduct  of  the  spectators  at  the  execution  of 
Charles  I.  and  of  Louis  XVI. 

75.  Who  was  the  "  Napoleon  of  Peace  "? 

76.  Who  was  the  first  king  of  England  ? 

77.  Compare  the  fate  and  the  character  of  Richard  II.  and  Ed- 
ward II.  of  England. 

78.  Who  was  styled  the  *'  King  of  the  French  "? 

79.  Why  did  the  Normans  finally  blend  so  easily  with  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  in  England  "? 

80.  What  were  the  causes  of  the  French  Revolution? 

81.  What  is  meant  by  the  Balance  of  Power? 

82.  In  what  respect  did  the  conquest  by  the  Turks  resemble  that 
by  the  Germans  ? 

83.  When  did  the  tiers  e'tat  get  its  first  representation  in  France  ? 

84.  Who  were  Wesley  and  Whitefield  ? 

85.  Compare  the  close  of  the  Carlovingian  dynasty  in  France  with 
that  of  the  Merovingian. 

86.  Tell  what  the  Normans  did  in  Europe. 

87.  Who  was  the  "  Prisoner  of  Ham  "?     (Napoleon  III.) 

88.  What  \¥as  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  ? 

89.  Why  are  there  so  rnany  French  artisans  in  England  ? 

90.  Who  was  Henry  V.  of  France? 

91.  What  kings  had  titles  referring  to  physical  qualities?  To  men- 
tal qualities  ? 


XIV  HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS. 

92.  What  was  the  Treaty  of  Paris  ?  Vienna  ?  Presburg  ?  Lune- 
ville?  Amiens?  CampoFormio?  Passau  ?  Tilsit?  Utrecht?  Aix- 
la-Chapelle?     Nimeguen?     Ryswick  ? 

93.  State  the  causes,  effects,  principal  battles,  and  prominent  gen- 
erals of  the  Hundred-Years  War. 

94.  Bound  France  at  the  ascension  of  Capet. 

95.  What  event  in  English  history  did  Napoleon's  dispersion  of  the 
Five  Hundred  resemble? 

96.  Who  was  the  "  Grand  Monarch  "? 

97.  Who  were  the  most  despotic  kings  named  in  history? 

98.  Who  is  the  "  Count  of  Chambord  "? 

99.  Who  fought  the  battles  of  Blenheim,  Ramillies,  Oudenarde,  and 
Malplaquet  ? 

100.  When  and  where  were  the  reformers  called  Protestants  ? 

loi.  Who  were  the  Whigs?  The  Tories?  What  was  the  origin  of 
these  names  ? 

102.  What  was  the  Fronde  ?  . 

103.  For  what  is  Sully  famous  ? 

104.  Quote  some  noted  historical  passages  from  Shakspere. 

105.  When  did  the  Germans  first  invade  France  ? 

106.  Who  were  the  "  Do-nothing  kings"? 

107.  In  how  many  great  battles  were  the  Austrians  defeated  by  Na- 
poleon ? 

108.  What  French  king  made  the  first  invasion  of  Italy?  The  last  ? 

109.  Who  was  the  "  Hero  of  Rocroi  "? 

no.  Who  fought  the  battles  of  Fontenoy,  Raucaux,  and  Lawfelt? 

111.  Who  was  the  "Sailor  King"? 

112.  For  what  is  Francis  I.  noted  in  history?  Louis  XIV  ?  I^ouis 
XV.?     Henry  IV.  of  France?     Henry  IV.  of  Germany? 

113.  What  was  the  Edict  of  Nantes? 

114.  Who  was  the  last  king  of  France? 

115.  What  two  great  generals  died  during  a  tempest  ? 

116.  State  what  was  decided  by  the  Peace  of  Westphalia. 

117.  Who  was  "  Corporal  Violet  "? 

118.  Who  fought  the  battles  of  Rocroi,  Freiburg,  Nordlingen,  and 
Lens  ? 

119.  What  French  kings  reigned  during  the  time  of  the  Crusades? 

120.  For  what  is  Colbert  noted  ?     Louvois  ? 

121.  Who  were  the  Huguenots  ? 

122.  State  the  principal  events  in  the  life  of  Luther.     • 

123.  Who  were  the  Nonconformists  ? 

124.  Name  the  chief  kings  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  eighteenth. 

125.  Who  was  king  of  France  in  1066  ?     1572?     1648?     1776? 

126.  For  what  was  Tetzel  noted  ? 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS.  XV 

127.  What  important  event  occurred  at  the  Diet  of  Worms? 

128.  Who  was  the  great  rival  of  Charles  V.  ? 

129.  What  was  Napoleon's  first  great  victory?     His  last? 

130.  What  was  the  Confession  of  Augsburg? 

131.  Who  were  the  Puritans?  The  Separatists?  The  Independents ? 
132.'  Explain  the  following  sentence  used  by  a  historian  :     "  Pope 

Gregory  XIII.  saw  in  Henry  III.  a  second  Louis  V.,  and  in  Henry 
Duke  of  Guise,  a  new  Hugh  Capet." 

133.  Tell  the  story  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 

134.  Describe  the  English  Revolution  of  1688. 

135.  Whost  motto  was,  "Divide  and  Govern"? 

136.  Describe  the  pomp,  power,  and  fate  of  Wallenstein. 

137.  How  many  great  battles  did  Napoleon  lose  ? 

138.  Name  the  causes,  effects,  duration,  principal  battles,  and  prom- 
inent generals  of  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession. 

139.  What  was  the  object  of  the  Council  of  Trent  ? 

140.  Describe  the  events  by  which  the  Church  of  Englana  was 
separated  from  Rome. 

141.  Tell  the  story  of  Essex  and  the  ring. 

142.  What  was  the  life-purpose  of  William,  Prince  of  Orange  ? 

143.  Who  was  the  "Little  Corporal"? 

144.  What  was  the  Tennis-court  oath  ? 

145.  What  was  the  cause  of  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  I.?  Napo- 
leon III.? 

146.  What  English  monarch  was  the  contemporary  of  Charles  V. 
and  Luther  ? 

147.  What  was  the  fate  of  Archbishop  Cranmer? 

148.  Name  and  distinguish  the  three  famous  princes  of  Orange. 

149.  Describe  the  sack  of  Magdeburg. 

150.  What  French  kings  reigned  during  the  time  of  the  Hundred- 
Years  War? 

151.  Was  Henry  VIII.  favorable  to  Luther? 

152.  What  effect  did  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  have  upon  the 
civil  war  in  France  ? 

153.  What  marriage  laid  the  foundation  of  the  rivalry  between  the 
houses  of  Austria  and  France  ? 

154.  Who  prepared  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer? 

155.  Who  was  John  Calvin? 

156.  Name  the  best  kings  in  the  Capetian  line.  The  Carlovingian 
line.  The  Tudor  line.  The  Stuart  line.  The  Bourbon  line.  The  Plan- 
tagenet  line. 

157.  What  was  the  character  of  Catharine  de'  Medici? 

158.  Describe  the  last  days  of  Charles  V. 

159.  What  was  the  object  of  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  ? 


XVI  HISTORICAL     RECREATIOKS. 

l6o.  What  peculiar  tactics  did  Napoleon  adopt  at  Austerlitz  ? 
i6i.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  battle  of  Naseby? 

162.  What  were  Richelieu's  aims  ? 

163.  What  was  the  peculiarity  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  of  England  ? 

164.  What  French  king  married  Mary,  afterward  Queen  of  Scots  ? 

165.  What  was  meant  by  Ship  money  ? 

166.  What  was  the  Long  Parliament  ? 

167.  What  queens  of  France  were  divorced  ? 

168.  What  is  meant  by  the  "  Sun  of  Austerlitz"? 

169.  What  was  the  duration  of  the  so-called  Hundred- Years  War? 

170.  What  was  the  Gunpowder  Plot? 

171.  Tell  something  about  the  character  of  Marlborough. 

172.  What  was  "  Pride's  Purge"? 

173.  What  was  the  Battle  of  the  Nations? 

174.  What  was  the  Day  of  the  Sections? 

175.  What  was  the  Seven- Years  War  called  in  America? 

176.  Who  was  the  "  Hero  of  Marston  Moor"? 

177.  For  what  is  the  elder  Pitt  noted  ? 

178.  How  many  Henrys  were  among  the  kings  of  France? 

179.  How  many  French  kings  have  surrendered  to  the  enemy? 

180.  Describe  the  glory  of  Cromwell's  Protectorate. 

181.  What  king  learned  the  ship-builder's  trade? 

182.  What  great  capitals  of  Europe  did  Napoleon  enter  in  triumph? 

183.  Sketch  the  life  of  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden. 

184.  What  does  the  change  of  name  from  Northmen  to  Normans  in- 
dicate? 

185.  What  infant  in  his  cradle  received  the  title  of  the  "  King  of 
Rome  "?     (See  Brief  Hist.  France.) 

186.  In  what  battle  were  spurs  of  more  service  than  swords? 

187.  Who  were  the  Leaguers? 

188.  What  was  Walpole's  policy  ? 

189.  Who  were  the  Schoolmen  ? 

190.  Who  were  the  Ironsides? 

191.  Name   the  great   battles   fought  between  the  French  and  the 
English. 

192.  What  vvas  the  Rump  Parliament? 

193.  Who  is  sometimes  styled  Napoleon  IV.  ? 

194.  Why  was  Cromwell's  rule  distasteful  to  the  English? 

195.  How  many  coalitions  leading  to  war  have  been  made  against 
France  ? 

196.  How  many  j^ears  have  the  descendants  of  Capet  occupied  the 
throne  of  France? 

197.  What  was  the  Declaration  of  Rights  ? 

198.  Who  was  John  Law? 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS.  XVU 

199.  What  was  the  Black  Hole?     The  Black  Death? 

200.  Which  was  the  first  victory  of  the  French  Republic?    Its  effect? 

201.  Should  Louis  XVI.  be  blamed  for  the  Revolution? 

202.  How  many  times  did  Napoleon  enter  Vienna  as  a  conqueror? 

203.  When  did  Kossuth  appear  in  history  ? 

204.  Describe  the  Reign  of  Terror. 

205.  How  many  years  has  the  government  of  France  been  a  repub- 
lic?    An  empire  ? 

206.  Name  the  principal  actors  in  the  Jacobin  rule  during  the  French 
Revolution. 

207.  Who  were  the  Carbonari  ? 

208    Where  are  the  keys  of  the  Bastile 

209.  What  were  the  assignats? 

210.  What  was  the  .Test  Act  ? 

211.  What  great  poet  helped  Greece  achieve  its  freedom? 

212.  Who  was  the  Black  Prince? 

213.  What  great  events  occurred  in  the  time  of  Philip  L? 

214.  What  was  the  Renaissance  ? 

215.  Illustrate  how  often,  in  history,  a  strong  king  has  been  followed 
by  a  weak  one. 

216.  What  was  the  first  English  Reform  Bill? 

217.  What  great  war  was  marked  by  the  capture  of  a  king  and  a 
pope,  and  the  sack  of  Rome  ? 

218.  What  great  political  crime  was  perpetrated  soon  after  the  Seven- 
Years  War  ? 

219.  To  what  line  of  kings  did  Charles  V.  of  France  belong? 
Henry  IV.  of  France  ?  Henry  IV.  of  England  ?  Henry  IV.  of  Germany  ? 
Louis  XV.  ?     Charles  the  Simple  of  France  ? 

220.  Who  was  "  Father  Fritz  "? 

221.  What  was  the  German  Confederation  ?    When  was  it  formed  ? 

222.  On  the  public  buildings  in  Paris  are  inscribed  the  words — 
"Liberte,  Egalite,  Equalite."     When  did  this  motto  take  its  rise? 

223.  Why  was  not  the  art  of  printing  discovered  earlier  than  the 
15th  century?  (This  question  is  designed  to  bring  up  the  general 
relation  of  supply  and  demand.) 

224.  Who  was  the  "  Corsican  Adventurer"? 

225.  Name  the  great  victories  of  Luxemburg. 

226.  How  did  Marlborough's  fall  affect  continental  affairs? 

227.  What  memorable  event  occurred  at  the  siege  of  Leyden  in  1574? 

228.  In  what  battle  did  Gustavus  Adolphus  fall  ? 

229.  What  victories  did  the  Prince  of  Orange  win  over  the  French? 

230.  What  was  the  South  Sea  Bubble  ? 

231.  How  is  the  history  of  Maria  Theresa  linked  with  that  of  Fred- 
erick the  Great  ? 


xviii  HISTOKICAL     KECREATIOKS. 

232.  What  monarch  wore  high-heeled  shoes  to  increase  his  stature  ? 

233.  What  is  meant  by  the  elder  and  the  younger  branch  of  the 
Bourbons? 

234.  Name  some  standard  Life  of  Frederick  the  Great.  Louis  XIV. 
Charles  XIL     Peter  the  Great.     Napoleon.     Charles  V. 

235.  What  was  the  Mississippi  scheme?  How  did  it  affect  this 
country  ? 

236.  Whence  did  the  French  derive  their  love  of  a  strong,  centralized 
government? 

237.  Name  the  standard  Histories  of  England,  and  state  their  pecu- 
liarities and  the  periods  they  cover. 

238.  When  and  by  whom  was  St.  Petersburg  founded  ? 

239.  How  many  Johns  have  reigned  in  France?     In  England? 

240.  Sketch  the  character  of  the  "Four  Georges." 

241.  When  and  how  did  France  lose  Canada? 

242.  What  kings  were  assassinated  ? 

243.  What  ruler  occupied  a  different  bed  every  night  ? 

244.  Illustrate  the  love  of  his  soldiers  for  Napoleon  I.. 

245.  What  was  the  Golden  Bull  ? 

246.  What  was  the  Aulic  Council  ? 

247.  Who  were  the  Girondists  ? 

248.  Who  were  the  Roundheads?    The  Cavaliers? 

249.  How  did  the  character  of  George  III.  affect  this  country? 

250.  Name  the  great  men  who  clustered  about  Louis  XIV. 

251.  What  women  have  exerted  a  great  influence  on  French  history? 

252.  What  was  the  fate  of  Marat?     Danton  ?     Robespierre? 

253.  What  great  victories  did  Nelson  achieve?     Effect? 

254.  When,  where,  and  between  whom  was  the  battle  of  Guinegate 
fought?  Steinkirk  ?  Lens?  Blenheim?  Jena?  Pavia?  Waterloo? 
Wagram  ?     Oudenarde  ? 

255.  What  influence  did  our  Revolutionary  War  have  upon  France? 

256.  What  great  battle  finally  checked  the  Turkish  advance  in 
Europe? 

257.  Describe  the  Retreat  from  Moscow. 

258.  Sketch  the  Growth  of  the  Papacy  after  the  Fall  of  Rome. 

259.  What  was  Queen  Anne's  War  called  in  Europe  ? 

260.  What  monarch  persecuted  the  Protestants  in  France,  and  pro- 
tected them  in  Germany? 

261.  With  what  European  nations  was  England  engaged  in  war  dur- 
ing our  Revolution? 

262.  What  modern  nation,  imitating  ancient  Rome,  has  been  gov- 
erned by  a  consul  ? 

263.  In  what  century  was  the  Age  of  Louis  XIV.?  The  Age  of 
Elizabeth?     The  Age  of  Richelieu? 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS.  XIX 

264.  Who  suppressed  the  Templars  ? 

265.  What  was  our  King  William's  War  called  in  Europe? 

266.  What  great  battles  have  been  fought  on  the  plains  of  Leipsic? 

267.  What  was  the  point  of  difTerence  between  the  Calvinists  and 
the  Lutherans? 

268.  Name  the  principal  battles  of  Napoleon  I. 

269.  Give  an  account  of  Napoleon  at  the  Bridge  of  Lodi, 

270.  What  were  the  Berlin  decrees? 

271.  What  is  meant  in  French  history  by  the  terms,  The  Revolution? 
The  Hundred  Days?     The  Restoration  ? 

272.  For  what  achievement  is  Sobieski  noted  ? 

273.  Who  were  the  Janissaries  ? 

274.  Sketch  Wellington's  career. 

275.  Who  was  the  "Exile  of  St.  Helena"? 

•     276.  Duruy  says,  "  Napoleon  HI.  was  not  a  royal  do-nothing."  Ex- 
plain the  allusion. 

277.  What  was  the  cause  of  the  long  hatred  between  England  and 
France  ? 

278.  What  great  statesman  died  on  hearing  of  the  battle  of  Austerlitz? 

279.  When  was  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  founded  ? 

280.  "The  dream  of  Charlemagne  and  Charles  V.  was  Napoleon's 
also."     Explain. 

281.  What  was  the  Zollverein  ? 

282.  What  were  the  causes  of  the  French  Revolution  of  1830?  1848? 
1871? 

283.  For  what  is  the  year  800  noted  ?  1000?  1066?  1346?  1415? 
1492?  .1494?  1517?  1525?  1558?  1571?  1572?  1588?  1598? 
1630?     1648?     i666?     1704?     1707?     1756?     1775?     1789? 

284.  Sketch  Napoleon's  Egyptian  campaign. 

285.  What  was  the  object  of  the  Anti-Corn-Law  League? 

286.  Who  were  the  Chartists  ? 

287.  Name  some  Italians  who  have  attained  prominence  in  French 
politics. 

288.  What  was  the  effect  upon  European  historj^  of  the  marriage  of 
Mary  of  Burgundy  to  Maximilian? 

289.  What  is  the  Code  Napoleon  ? 

290.  What  was  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy? 

291.  What  curious  story  is  told  of  RoUo's  doing  homage  for  his  fief? 

292.  How  did  Charlotte  Corday's  dagger  precipitate  the  Reign  of 
Terror  ? 

293.  Name  some  incident  of  the  battle  of  Ivry.     (Br.  Hist.  France.) 

294.  What  was  Cavour's  policy  ? 

295  What  was  Luther's  object  in  posting  the  ninety-five  theses  on 
the  cathedral  door? 


XX  HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS. 

296.  What  child-kings  have  occupied  the  throne  of  France?  Of 
England  ? 

297.  Who  is  the  "  Sick  Man  "? 

298.  What  became  of  Josephine  after  the  Fall  of  Napoleon?  Maria 
Louisa?     (See  Brief  Hist.  France. 

299.  Where  did  the  Charge  of  the  Six  Hundred  occur? 

300.  Name  the  causes  and  effects,  the  duration,  the  principal  battles, 
and  the  prominent  generals  of  the  Seven-Years  War. 

301.  What  French  king  had  the  longest  reign  ?     The  shortest  ? 

302.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  Battle  of  Morgarten  ?  Nancy?  Wa- 
terloo ?     Jena?     Jemmapes?     Runnymede?     Pavia? 

303.  Describe  the  state  of  the  church  when  Luther  appeared. 

304.  What  three  great  European  monarchs  were  contemporaneous 
in  the  i6th  century  ? 

305.  How  many  French  kings  have  been  dethroned? 

306.  What  will  be  the  probable  effect  upon  Italy  of  the  Suez  canal  ? 

307.  What  caused  the  hostility  between  Zwingle  and  Luther  ? 

308.  Who  was  the  "Golden-footed  Dame"? 

309.  When  did  a  charge  of  a  small  body  of  cavalry  decide  a  great 
battle? 

310.  How  many  times  have  foreign  armies  taken  Paris? 

311.  What  was  the  Holy  Alliance? 

312.  What  is  meant  by  the  Three  days  of  July? 

313.  What  folly  did  Prince  Rupert  commit  at  the  battle  of  Naseby? 

314.  Why  did  Francis  L  form  an  alliance  with  the  Turks? 

315.  What  three  kings  in  succession  led  great  armies  into  Italy? 

316.  Who  was  the  chevalier  "  without  fear  and  without  reproach  "? 

317.  What  king  sent  his  own  sons  to  prison  in  order  to  release  him- 
self? 

318.  Relate  some  anecdote,  or  state  some  interesting  fact  concerning 
Cromwell.  Napoleon.  Louis  XIV.  Peter  the  Great.  Charles  XII. 
Charlemagne.     Mary  Queen  of  Scots.     Elizabeth. 

319.  What  was  the  Smalcaldic  War? 

320    Explain  the  coup  d'etat  of  December  2. 

321.  What  was  the  League  of  Cambrai  ? 

322.  State  the  causes  of  the  Guelph  and  Ghibelline  feud. 

323.  Name  the  great  events  that  marked  the  beginning  of  the 
Modern  Era. 

324.  What  was  the  War  of  the  Investiture  ? 

325.  When  and  where  was  gunpowder  first  used  in  battle  ? 

326.  What  was  the  needle-gun  ? 

327.  What  was  an  Interdict? 

328.  What  curious  connection  is  there  between  St.  Peter's  at  Rome 
and  the  Reformation  ? 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIONS.  XXI 

329.  Tell  the  sad  story  of  Lady  Jane  Grey. 

330.  Distinguish  between  the  two  Maurices  named  in  history 
.    331.  Name  the  leaders  in  the  French  Civil-Religious  War. 

332.  Who  was  the  First  Bourbon  king  ? 

333.  What  were  Mary  Stuart's  claims  to  the  English  throne  ? 

334.  What  was  the  Conquest  of  Granada?     How  is  that  event  con- 
nected with  our  history  ? 

335.  What  w^as  Magna  Charta  ?  • 

336.  What  were  the  causes  of  the  Revival  of  Learning? 

337.  Who  was  Tilly  ? 

338.  What  is  the  tricolored  flag  ? 

339.  Who  was  the  "  Horace  of  France"? 

340.  Describe  Charles  H.'s  alliance  with  Louis  XIV. 

341.  In  what  respect  did  Charles  I.  resemble  his  father? 

342.  What  great  battles  were  won  with  the  long-bow  ? 

343.  Compare  the  influence  of  the  discovery  of  gunpowder  with 
that  of  printing. 

344.  What  points  of  contrast  were   there  between  the  first  Stuart 
king  of  England  and  the  Tudors? 

345.  What  is  meant  by  the  "  Divine  right  of  kings  "? 

346.  What  was  the  Triple  Alliance? 

347.  Name  two  instances  in  which  a  spider  has  changed  the  fate  of 
a  great  man. 

348.  Describe  the  Saracenic  civilization  in  Spain. 

349.  What  event  caused  Wolsey's  fall  ? 

350.  Show  how  the  doctrines  and  forms  of  the  English  Church  were 
shaped  under  Edward  VI. 

351.  What  were  the  greatest   events  of  the  15th  century?     i6th? 
17th?     iSth? 

352.  What  eflfect  did  the  Crusades  have  upon  Europe? 

353.  What  was  the  Congress  of  Vienna? 

354.  Sketch  the  steps    by  which  Prussia  became  the  head  of  Ger- 
many. 

355.  With  what  generals  are  the  battles  of  Fleurus,  Steinkirk,  and 
Neerwinden  connected  ? 

356.  In  what  great  campaign  was  the  bayonet  first  used? 

357.  How  did  Richelieu  capture  Rochelle? 

358.  Who  was  the  "  Upholsterer  of  Notre  Dame  "? 

359.  What  is  meant  by  the  Devastation  of  the  Palatinate  ? 

360.  Who  were  the  Moors  of  Spain  ? 

361.  What  was  the  Ladies'  Peace  ? 

362.  Who  were  the  Knights  of  St.  John  ? 

363.  State  the  "  pivotal  point,"  or  the  tactics,  or  some  marked  inci- 
dent that  decided  the  issue  of  the  following  battles  and  by  which  they 


XXll  HISTORICAL     RECREATIOl!?"S. 

can  be  remembered :  Pavia.  Leipsic.  Lech.  Llitzen.  Freiburg. 
Marston  Moor,  Naseby.  Battle  of  the  Boyne.  Plains  of  Abraham. 
Lodi.     Arcole.     Rivoli.     Austerlitz.     Waterloo. 

364.  What  king  wrote  an  essay  against  the  use  of  tobacco? 

365.  What  was  the  Petition  of  Right  ? 

366.  What  was  "  Thorough  "? 

367.  Who  were  the  Covenanters  ? 

368.  What  was  the  effect  of  Luther's  translating  the  Bible? 

369.  Describe  the  extent  and  power  of  the  Spanish  Empire  under 
Charles  V.  and  Philip  IL 

370.  Who  were  the  Jacobites  ? 

371.  Describe  the  amusements  of  three  noted  kings  reigninj  in  the 
early  part  of  the  i8th  century. 

372.  Quote  Johnson's  verses  upon  Charles  XIL 

373.  What  event  marked  the  opening  of  the  18th  century? 

374.  Name   the   last    battle   in  which  an   English   king  fought  in 
person. 

375.  What  monarch  said  that  he  "treated  as  a  prince  and  not  as  a 
merchant "? 

376.  When  did  a  death  save  a  great  king? 

377.  Tell  the  story  of  the  famous  Wind-mill,  still  shown  at  Potsdam. 

378.  State  the  steps  of  the  Unification  of  Italy. 

379.  Who  was  the  "  Hero  of  the  red  shirt  "? 

380.  What  effect  did  the  Franco-German  War  of '71  have  upon  Italy? 

381.  What  war  was  brought  on  by  the  closing  of  two  churches  ?     By 
the  massacre  of  a  congregation  ? 

382.  How  did  Italy  become  a  province  of  the  Eastern  Empire  ? 

383.  What  remarkable  man  was  born  in  Arabia  in  the  6th  century  ? 

384.  Explain  why  the    Crusaders   encountered   in    Palestine  both 
Turks  and  Saracens. 

385.  What  tales  describe  Arabian  manners  and  customs  in  the  8th 
century  ? 

386.  What   complaint  was   made   against   the  earliest   Hanoverian 
kings  of  England  ? 

387.  During  how  many  years  was  England  a  republic  ? 

388.  Which  one  of  Napoleon's  generals  did  the  Congress  of  Vienna 
allow  to  retain  his  throne? 

389.  Who  was  the  author  of  the  Inductive  method  of  reasoning? 

390.  Mention  some  of  Mohammed's  doctrines. 

391.  What  was  the  Continental  System  ? 

392.  Why  did  the  Puritans  emigrate  to  America? 

393.  What  literature  was  diffused  by  the  Fall  of  Constantinople  ? 

394.  Describe  the  Expulsion  of  the  Moors  from  Spain  by  Philip  III.  " 

395.  Show  how  the  trade  to  India  has  enriched  Europe. 


HISTORICAL     RECREATIOKS.  xxiii 

396.  What  was  the  greatest  extent  of  the  Saracen  empire? 

397.  How  many  queens  have  ruled  England  ? 

398.  Name  the  "  Four  Conquests  of  England." 

399.  Which  is  the  longest  war  named  in  European  History  ? 

400.  Sketch    the  principal  steps  in  the  growth  of  Constitutional 
Liberty  in  England. 

401.  Do  the  Turks  belong  in  Europe? 

402.  Siate  the  cause,  duration,  decisive  battle,  and  effect  ofjhe  V. 
of  the  Roses. 

403.  What  English  reign  coincided  with  three   French  reigns  an 
vice  versa,  what  French  reign  coincided  with  three  English  ones? 

404.  Sketch  the  principal  features  of  Feudalism. 

405.  Who  was  the  "  Monk  of  Cluny  "? 

406.  Who  was  the  "  Great  Captain  "? 

407.  What  remarkable  men  lived  during  the  last  decade  of  the  15th 
century? 

408.  What  famous  king  died  in  a  pool  of  water  by  the  road-side  ? 

409.  What  Treaty  was  negotiated  upon  a  raft  in  the  river? 
410    How  long  was  Hanover  joined  to  England  ? 

411.  What  solitary  act  of  courage  did  Richard  II.  show? 

412.  Who  was  Henry  the  Fowler? 

413.  Contrast  early  German  with  early  French  history. 

414.  Is  there  a  sharp  division  between  any  two  ages  in  history? 

415.  What  Dutch  admiral  tied  a  broom  to  his  masthead  ? 

416.  How  long  after  the  battle  of  Hastings  did  the  Great  Fire  at 
London  occur  ? 

417.  Repeat  the  epigram  upon  Charles  I. 

418.  What  daughter  helped  expel  her  father  from  his  throne? 

419.  Who  was  Peter  Zimmermann  ? 

420.  Who  was  the  Great  Elector  ? 

421.  What  king  had  a  body-guard  of  giants? 

422.  When  did  the  Battle  of  the  Three  Emperors  occur  ? 

423.  When  did  the  Pope  come  to  Paris,  to  crown  a  French  king? 

424.  When  did  the  birth  of  an  heir  cost  an  English  king  his  crown  ? 

425.  Tell  the  story  of  Maria  Theresa  before  the  Hungarian  Diet. 

426.  Was  Cromwell  justified  in  executing  Charles  I.? 

427.  What  was  the  New  Model  ? 

428.  What  two  great  men  had  the  power,  but  dare  not  take  the  title, 
of  king? 

429.  Sketch  the  general  characteristics  of  the  Stuarts.    The  Tudors. 

430.  What  was  the  Praise-God  Barebone's  Parliament? 

431.  What  was  the  longest  gap  between  two  successive  English  par- 
liaments?   Two  French  States-Generals  ? 

432.  Who  said  "  Better  a  drowned  land  than  a  lost  land  "? 


xxiv  HISTORICAL      It  EC  RE  ATI  0  N  S. 

433.  What  was  "  Morton's  fork  "? 

434.  "  Francis  I.  on  his  way  to  Paris  from  Madrid  vapored  much  of 
Regulus "?     Explain. 

435.  Charles  V.  once  said,  "  I  do  not  intend  to  blush  like  Sigis- 
mund."     Explain. 

436.  What  English  kings  were  authors  ? 

437.  What  was  the  Revolt  of  the  Beggars  ? 

438.  Who  said  "  Some  birds  are  too  big  for  any  cage  "? 

439.  Who  was  the  "  Tyrant  of  the  Escurial "? 

440.  Why  did  not  Pope  Clement  VII.  dare  to  offend  Charles  V.  ? 

441.  What  English  minister  lost  his  head  for  getting  his  king-a 
homely  wife  ? 

442.  Who  was  the  first  queen-regnant  of  England  ? 

443.  Who  was  styled  the  *'  Flower  of  Chivalrie  "? 

444.  What  kings  have  expelled  from  their  dominions  large  classes 
of  their  subjects  ? 

445.  Contrast  the  general  characteristics  of  the  Middle  Ages  with 
those  of  the  Modern  Era. 

446.  Who  was  the  "  King  maker  "? 

447.  What  was  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  ? 

448.  Name  several  instances  of  the  general  persecuting  spirit  of 
former  times. 

449.  What  English  author  defends  the  character  and  conduct  of 
Henry  VIII.? 

450.  Describe  the  growth  and  influence  of  free  cities  in  the  Middle 
Ages. 

451.  Mr.  Bagehot  writes  "  The  slavish  parliament  of  Henry  VIII. 
grew  into  the  murmuring  parliament  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  mutinous 
parliament  of  James  I.,  and  the  rebellious  parliament  of  Charles  I." 
Explain. 

452.  What  great  events  occurred  in  1689? 

453.  Was  Napoleon  I.'s  reign  a  permanent  benefit  to  France? 
What  was  its  general  effect  upon  Europe? 

454.  When  did  a  beggar's  grandson  become  a  king? 

455.  Who  said.  "  I  am  the  state"? 

456.  Who  was  the  "Last  of  the  knights"? 

457.  What  peasant  girl  became  a  queen? 

458.  Has  Germany  or  France  ever  had  a  queen-regnant? 

459.  To  what  historical  event  is  allusion  made  in  the  poem,  begin- 
ning: 

"  On  Linden,  when  the  sun  was  low,  All  bloodless  lay  the  untrodden  snow." 

460.  Name  the  fifteen  most  decisive  battles  and  sieges  of  modern 
times,  and  state  the  reasons  for  the  selection. 


IN  DEX. 


Ab  bass'i  des,  330. 

Ab  dal'lah,  405. 

Ab'e  lard,  413. 

Aboukir  (ah  boo  keer'),  Battle  of,  551. 

A'bra  ham,  39,  46,  80. 

A  chae'an  League,  157. 

A  chiKles,  116. 

A'cre,  551. 

Ac'ti  um,  Battle  of,  254. 

Addison,  553. 

yEd'i  pus,  167. 

^'gos  Pot'a  mus,  145. 

JE.  ne'as,  117,  205. 

^s'chi  nes,  173. 

-^s'chy  lus,  165. 


^'sop,  173. 

JE  to  li  an  League,  i 


57. 


Ag'a  mem'non,  116. 

Agrarian  Law,  216. 

Ag'ri  gen'tum,  227. 

A  grip'pa,  214. 

Aix,  Battle  ol,  242. 

Aix-la-Cha  pelle,  Treaty  of,  490,  529. 

Al'a  ric,  267. 

Albert  I.  of  Austria,  384. 

"    II.  "         -        ^84. 

"     Prince.  586. 
AI  bi  gen'ses.  358. 
Al  bu  e'ra.  Battle  of,  568. 
Al  ci  bi'a  des,  141,  143. 
Ale  mae  on'i  dse,  123. 
Al'cu  in,  336,  349. 
Alexander,  150. 
Alexander  of  Russia,  565,  568. 
Alexander  Se  ve'rus.  The  Emperor,  162. 
Al  ex  an'dri  a,  151. 

Alexandrian  Museum  and  Library,  154. 
Al  ion'so  of  Aragon,  395. 
Allred  the  Great,  339. 
Al'lia,  Battle  of,  221. 
Al'ma,  Batile  of,  586. 
Alphabet.  77- 
Arva,  Duke  of,  446. 
Amenemhe,  17,  39. 
Am  i  ens.  Treaty  of.  559. 
Am  phic  ty  on'ic  Council,  115. 
A  nab'a  sis,  The,  172. 
A  na'cre  00,  164. 
An  ax  ag'o  ras,  174. 
A  nax'i  man'der,  174. 
An'ge  lo,  Michael,  395,  424,  467. 
Angles,  338. 


Anglo-Saxons,  318,  347. 

An  go'ra.  Battle  of,  406. 

Anne  Boleyn  (booFin),  457. 

Anne,  Queen,  512. 

An  tal'ci  das.  Peace  of,  146. 

An  ti  o  chus  the  Great,  234,  237. 

An  to'ni  us  Mar'cus  (Marc  Antony),  35^. 

An  to  ni'nus,  M.  Au  re'li  us,  commonly 

called  Mar'cus  An,:oninus,  261. 
An  to  ni'nus,  T.  Au  re'li  us,   commonly 

called  Antoninus  Pi'us,  261. 
Apollo,  184. 

Ar  be'la,  Battle  of,  151. 
Arc,  Joan  of.    See  Jeanne  Dare. 
Ar  chil'o  chus,  163. 
Ar  chi  me'des,  Death  of,  234. 
Architecture,  Gothic,  415. 
Ar  co'le,  Battle  of,  549. 
A  re  op'a  gus,  122. 
Argonauts,  The,  115. 
A'ri  ans.  The,  266. 
Ar  is  ti'des,   128,  132.  135. 
Ar  is  toph'a  nes,  169. 
Ar  is  tot'le,  176. 
Arkwright,  556. 
Armada,  Defeat  of,  464. 
Armagnacs  (ar  man  yaks),  366. 
Armor,  412. 

Arnold  of  Winkelried,  389. 
Ar'te  mis,  184. 
As  ca'ni  us,  205. 
As'pern,  Battle  of,  566. 
Assembly  of  centuries,  215. 

"  '•   curies,  215. 

"  "   tribes,  215. 

"        The  Legislative,  542. 
As'shur-bani-pal,  49. 
As'shur-emed'-ilin,  50. 
As'shur-izir-pal,  48. 
Assyria,  46. 

Assyrian  Civilization,  51. 
As  tar'te,  Ash'ta  roth,  79. 
As  ty'a  ges,  88. 
A  the'na.  184. 
Athens,  121. 
Athens  vs.  Sparta,  158. 
At'ta  lus,  237. 
At'ti  la,  268. 

Au'er  st'idt.  Battle  of,  564. 
Augs'burg,  Confession  of,  442. 

''  Diet  at.  441. 

Augustine,  St.,  339. 


XXVI 


INDEX. 


Augustus  Caesar,  255. 

Au  gus'tu  lus,  Rom'u  lus,  269. 

Au'lic  Council,  The,  387. 

Au  re'li  an,  The  Emperor,  263. 

Au  re'li  us,  The  Emperor,  261. 

Aus'ter  litz,  Battle  of,  563. 

Austria,  374. 

Austrian  iiuccession.  War  of,  527. 

Az'in  court,  Battle  of,  366. 

Az'tecs,  427. 

Ba'al,  78. 

Babylon,  58. 

Babylonish  Captivity,  The,  392. 

Baby  lo'nia,  45. 

Bac'chus,  185. 

Bacon,  Lord,  468,  513. 

"       Roger,  413,  424. 
Bac'tria,  10. 
Baj'a  zet,  407. 

Bal'a  kla'va,  Battle  of,  586. 
Balance  of  Power,  426. 
Bale.  Council  of,  392. 
Ba'li"ol,  John,  345. 
Ban'nocfc  burn.  Battle  of,  345. 
Banquets,  Reform,  576. 
Bar  ba  ros'sa,  of  Germany,  38c. 

§ar  ba  ros'sa,  Turkish  Admiral,  436. 
ar'ca.     See  Hamilcar. 
Bar'ne  veld,  J.  van  Old'en,  449. 
Bartholemew's  Day,  Massacre  of,  453. 
Bastile  (teel'),  Capture  of,  540. 
Baufzen,  Battle  of.  570. 
Bayard,  Chevalier,  431,  432,  434. 
Beck'et,  Thomas  a,  343. 
Bede,  The  Venerable,  349. 
Bedford,  Duke  of,  367. 
Beggars,  The,  446. 
Belshaz'zar,  51. 
Ber  lin'  Decrees,  565. 

"       Treaty  of,  597. 
Bible,  Translations  of,  440,  459,  494. 
Bis'marck,  590. 
Black  Death,  362. 

"     Hole,  534. 

"     Prince,  362,  364. 
Blen'heim.  Battle  of,  493. 
Blii'cher,  Marshal,  572. 
Book  of  the  Dead,  24. 
Bo  ro  di'no.  Battle  of,  568. 
Bour'bon,  Constable  de,  434. 
Bour  geoi'sie,  359. 
Bou  vines',  Battle  of.  358. 
Boyne,  Battle  of,  511. 
Brah  mins,  105. 
Brandenburg,  526. 
Bren'nus,  156. 
Bre  tig'ny,  Peace  of,  364. 
Bruce,  Robert,  345. 
Bru'tus,  Lu'cius  Ju'ni  us,  211. 
"       Mar'cus  Ju'ni  us,  253. 
Bud'dha,  107. 
Bun  yan,  John,  513. 
Buonaparte,  546. 
Burghers,  374. 
Bur'gun  dy,  Duke  of,  366. 
Burial  in  Egypt,  34. 

"      in  Greece,  190. 

"      m  Rome,  294. 
Burns,  Robert,  553. 


By  zan'ti  um.    See  Consta.ntinople. 

Cade's  Insurrection,  368. 

Cse'sar,  Cai'us  Ju'li  us,  248. 

Cal'ends,  Ides,  etc.,  251. 

Ca  lig'u  la,  259. 

Cal'li  ope.    See  Muses. 

Calvin,  John,  441. 

Cam  brai.  League  of,  432. 

Cam  by'ses,  15,  90. 

Ca  mil'lus,  221. 

Cam  po  For  mi  o.  Treaty  of,  550. 

Can'nae,  Battle  of.  232. 

Cannon,  Use  of,  424. 

Ca  nu'lei  an  Decree,  218. 

Ca  nute',  339. 

Cap'i  tol.  Siege  of  Roman,  222. 

Ca'pet,  Hugh,  356. 

Ca  ra  cal'la  (properly  Caracallus),  262. 

Car  bo  na'ri,  592. 

Car  lo  vin'gian  Line,  332. 

Carthage,  73,  76. 

Cas'si  us  Spu'ri^us,  216. 

Castiglione  (kas'teel  yo'na),  Battle  of,  549 

Castles,  409. 

Ca  teau'-Cam  bre  sis'.  Treaty  of.  444. 

Catharine  de'  Med'i  ci.    See  Medici. 

Catharine  the  Great,  525. 

Cat'i  line,  247. 

Ca'to,  Censor,  235. 

"     Mar'cus,  248. 
Cau'dine  Forks,  Battle  of,  223. 
Cavaliers,  The,  500. 

Ca  vour',  Count,  594.  — 

Ce'cil,  William,  462. 
Ce'res,  184. 

Chae  ro  ne'a.  Battle  of,  149. 
Chal  de'a,  45. 
Chariots,  War,  21. 
Charge  magne,  332. 
Charles  I.  of  England,  497. 
II.  '•  506. 

''        III.  (the  Simple)  of  France,  354. 

"•        V.  of  France,  365. 

"        VI.         '•         365. 
VII.       "         367. 

"        VIIL      "        423, 430. 

"        IX.         "        452. 

"      X.         "       575. 

"        IV.  of  Germany,  385. 

"        V.  "  433. 

"       XII.  of  Sweden,  523. 
Charles  Edward  Stuart,  510. 
Charles  Mar  tel'.  329. 
Charles  the  Bold,  369. 
Charles  of  Valois  (val  wa'),  355,  360. 
Chartists,  The,  584. 
Chatham.    See  Pitt. 
Che'ops  (Khufu),  16,  36. 
China,  109. 
Chivalry,  410. 
Christian  Religion,  263. 
Cic'e  ro,  274. 
Ci'mon,  135. 
Cin'cin  na'tus,  220. 
Cin'na,  244. 
Cities,  Growth  of,  383. 
Clau'di  us  Ap'pi  us,  217,  283. 
Cleis'the  nes,  124,  129. 
Cle'on,  141,  170. 


INDEX 


XXV 11 


Cle'o  pa'tra.  249. 
Clients,  213.  270.  298. 
Cli'o.     See  Muses. 
Clo'vis.    See  Franks. 
Co'cles,  Ho  ra'ti  us,  212. 
Col  bert',  489. 
Co  lig'ny,  Admiral  de,  451. 
Co  lum'bus,  427. 
Co  mi'ti  a  Cu  ri  a'ta,  208. 
Com'mo  dus,  The  Emperor,  261. 
Commune,  The,  581. 
Communes,  358. 
Con  di,  Prince  of,  488. 
Con  fu'ci  us,  III. 
Conrad  II.,  375,  376. 
"        III.,  379,  400. 
IV.,  381. 
Constance,  Council  of,  385. 
Con'stan  tine  I.,  264. 
Constantinople,  Siege  of,  407. 
Continental  System,  565. 
Co  per'ni  cus,  424,  468. 
Cor  day',  Charlotte,  544. 
Cor  de^i  ers,  The,  540. 
Co  ri  o  la'nus,  Cai'us  Mar'ci  us,  219.  223. 
Cor  ne'li  a,  241. 
Corn  Laws,  583. 
Cor'tes,  The,  404 
Cor'tes,  Her  nan'do,  428. 
Cranmer,  Archbishop,  457. 
Cras'sus,  M.  Li  ci'ni  us,  245. 
Cre'cy,  Battle  of,  361. 
Cres'py,  Peace  of,  437. 
Crimean  War,  The,  586. 
Croe'sus.  89. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  500. 

•'  Richard,  506. 

"         Thomas,  458. 
Crusades,  The,  397.  * 

Cu  nax'a,  145. 
Cy  ax'a  res,  50,  88. 
Cynics,  The,  177. 
Cyn'os  ceph'a  lae,  Battle  of,  236. 
Cyprus,  Discoveries  in,  77. 
Cyrus  the  Great,  51,  84,  88. 
"      the  Younger,  145 

Danes  or  Northmen,  339,  354. 

Dan'te,  414. 

Dan'ton,  540. 

Da  ri'us  the  Great,  91. 

Dark  Ages,  The,  316. 

Darnley,  Lord,  463. 

Dau'phin,  The,  362. 

De  cem'virs,  216. 

De'ci  us.  The  Emperor,  262. 

Delphic  Oracle,  115,  185. 

De'los,  Confederation,  134. 

De  mos'the  nes,  149,  173. 

Det'tin  gen.  Battle  of,  529. 

Dia'na,  184. 

Di'az,  Bartholemew,  426. 

Di  o  cle'ti  an,  The  Emperor,  263. 

Di  og'e  nes,  177. 

Di  o  ny'sos,  185. 

Feast  of,  187. 
Directory,  The,  546. 
Do  mi'ti  an,  The  Emperor,  261. 
Do'ri  ans,  117,  nB,  119. 
Dover,  Treaty  of,  508. 


Dra'co,  121. 
Dresden,  Battle  of,  570. 
Dryden,  513. 
Dudley,  Lord,  461. 
Dudley,  Robert,  466. 
Dun  bar'.  Battle  of,  503. 
Dutch  Republic,  445. 

East  Indian  Company,  449,  465. 

Edward  I.  of  England,  341,  344. 

"       in.  "         360,361. 

!!    l^'-      1!     340. 

V.  340. 

"       VI.  "         460. 

Edvvard  the  Black  Prince,  362. 
Edward  the  Confessor,  339. 
Egbert  of  England,  339. 
E  ge'ri  a.  The  nymph,  207. 
Egypt,  15. 

Egypt,  Campaign  in,  551. 
Egyptian  Civilization,  19. 
Eleanor,  Queen,  356,  400. 
Electors,  The  Seven,  382,  385. 
E  leu  sin'i  an  Mysteries.     See  Ceres. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  461. 
Elgin  Marbles,  181. 
Embalming,  32. 
England,  History  of,  in  16th  centurj',  455. 

"  "  in  17th        "        494. 

"  "  in  i8th        ''        532. 

"  "  in  19th        "        583. 

"•        Rise  of,  337. 
E  pam'i  non'das,  147. 
Eph'e  sus,  117,  181. 
E  pi  cu'rus,  177. 
Eq'ui  tes,  213,  240. 
Er'ecth  thei'um,  194. 
Esar  had'don,  49. 
Essex,  Earl  of,  466. 
E  trus'cans,  204. 

Etruscan  Conquest  of  Rome,  211. 
Eugene,  Prince,  493. 
Eu  rip'i  des,  168. 
Eu  ter'pe,  185,    See  Muses. 
Ey'lau,  Battle  of,  565. 

Fa'bii,  218. 

Fa'bi  us  Max'i  mus  Cunc  ta'tor,  232. 

Fa  bric'i  us,  225. 

Fates,  The,  185. 

Feme,  The,  383. 

Ferdinand  I.  of  Aragon,  404. 

Ferdinand  I.  of  Germanj'.  444. 

"  II.  '■  444,  480. 

III.         "  485- 

Feudalism,  408. 
Field  of  Cloth  of  Gold,  433. 
Fire,  Great,  of  London,  507. 
Fla  min'i  us,  236. 
Fleu  rus.  Battle  of  492. 
Flodden  Field,  Battle  of,  456. 
Florence,  392. 
Fon  te  nay'.  Battle  of.  334. 
Fon  le  noy'.  Battle  of,  529. 
For  no'va.  Battle  of.  430. 
France,  History  of,  in  i6th  century,  450. 

"■  •'  in  17th        "         486. 

"  "  in  i8th        "         536. 

in  19th        "         559. 
Francis  I.  of  France  432. 


XXVlll 


1  K  D  E  X  . 


Francis  II.  of  France,  451. 
Fran  co'nia,  House  of,  375. 
Franks,  The,  318,  331. 

•'        Kingdom  of,  33 1. 
Frederick  I.,  Barbarossa,  380,  400. 
Frederick  II.  of  Germany,  381,  395. 

"         Count  of  Hohenzollern,  386. 

'*         Elector-palatine.  480. 

"         I.  of  Prussia,  526. 

"         II.,  the  Great,  of  Prussia,  527. 

"         William,  of  Prussia,  527. 
Frederick  William,  the  Great  Elector,  526. 
Frei'burg,  Battle  of,  485. 
French  Revolution.  The,  536. 
Fried'land,  Battle  of,  565. 
Fronde,  The,  489. 
Fugger,  441,  476. 
Furies,  The,  185. 

Gal  I  le'o,  468, 

Gal  la'tia,  156. 

Galleys,  102. 

Gal'lus,  The  Emperor,  262. 

Gar  i  baKdi,  593. 

Gauls,  Invasion  of,  220. 

Gauls,  The,  371. 

Gau  ta'ma  (Buddha),  107-8. 

Gen'ghis  Khan,  405. 

Gen'o  a,  392. 

Gens  (plu.  gentes),  207. 

Gen'se  ric,  269. 

Georges,  The,  532,  583. 

Ger  man'i  cus,  256. 

Germans,  The.  322. 

Germany,  History  of,  in  i6th  century,  433. 

'*  ••  in  17th        "       480. 

"  •'  in  i8th        "        526. 

'•  in  19th        "       588. 

*'        Rise  of,  373. 
Ghent.  Pacification  of,  448. 
Ghib'el  lines,  The,  379. 
Gi  rond'ists,  The,  542. 
Gladiatorial  War,- 245. 

"  Shows.    See  Roman  Games. 

Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  398. 
Golden  Bull,  The,  385. 
Gon  sal'vo  de  Cor  do'va,  431. 
Gorgons,  The,  185. 
Grac'chi,  The,  241. 
Graces.  The  Three,  185. 
Gra  na'da.  Conquest  of,  404. 
Granson,  Battle  of,  370. 
Grav  e  lotte'.  Battle  of,  580. 
Grecian  Civilization,  158. 
Greece,  113,  597. 
Greek  Empire,  The,  319. 
Greek  Fire,  328.  * 

Gregory  VII.,  Pope,  339. 
Grevy  (?ra  ve'),  582. 
Grey^  Lady  Jane,  461. 
Guelt's  and.Ghibellines,  379. 
Gues  clin',  Ber  trand'  du,  365. 
Guilds,  415. 

Guinegate,  Battle  of,  432. 
Guis  card'  of  Normandy,  398. 
Guise,  Duke  Francis  ot,  450. 

'•      Henry  of.  452. 
Gunpowder,  424. 
Gunpowder  Plot,  496. 
Gus  ta'vus  Adol'phus,  482. 


Gu'ten  berg',  425. 
Guy  Fawkes,  496. 


Habeas  Corpus  Act,  509. 
Ha'dri  an,  The  Emperor,  261 
Ha  mil'car,  ^3,  230. 
Hampden,  John,  499. 
Han'ni  bal  the  Great,  230. 
Hanover,  House  ot.  532. 
Han  se  at'ic  League,  384. 
Hapsburg^s,  The,  382,  384. 
Harlem,  Siege  of,  446. 
Harpies,  The,  185. 
Has'dru  bal,  233-4. 
Hastings,  Battle  of  340. 
He'gel,  554. 
He  gi'ra.  The,  326. 
Helen,  116, 
Hel'las,  T14. 
Helle'nes,  114. 
He'lots,  119.  160. 
Henry  I.  of  England,  341 


II. 
III. 
IV. 
V. 

VI. 

VII. 
VIII. 

n.  of 
in. 

IV. 


340 

343 
366. 
366, 
367 
455 
456. 

'  ranee,  443 

453 
454 


342- 


I.  of  Germany,  374, 


374- 
376. 
376. 
377- 
381,  401. 

Sec  Pompeii. 


II. 

"     m. 

••      IV. 

"      V. 
'•      VI. 

He  ra  clei'dse,  117. 

Her  cu  la'ne  uni. 

Her'cu  les,  115. 

Her'mes,  143,  184. 

Hero,  155. 

He  rod'o  tus,  15,  171. 

Hi'e  ro,  227. 

Hil'de  brand,  376. 

Hip  par'chus,  123. 

Hip'pi  as,  123. 

Hip  poc'ra  tes,  174, 

Hit'tites,  86. 

Ho  hen  lin'den,  Battle  of,  559. 

Ho  hen  stau'fen  Line,  379,  380,  395. 

Ho  hen  zol'lern.  House  of,  386. 

Holland,  445. 

Holy  AUiance,  588. 

Holy  League,  432. 

Holy  Roman  Empire,  The,  375. 

Ho'mer,  162. 

Hor'ace,  276. 

Ho  ra'ti  i  and  Cu  ra'ti  i,  207. 

Hos'pi  tal  ers,  399,  436. 

Huguenots,  The,  487. 

Hundred  Days,  The,  571. 

Hundred-Years  War,  346,  360. 

Hungary,  374,  385. 

Huns,  The,  265,  374. 

Huss,  John,  386. 

Hussite  War,  386. 

Hyk'sos,  17. 


INDEX 


XXIX 


Il'i  ad.  The,  ii6,  162. 
Incas,  The,  42S. 
Independents,  The,  501. 
India,  105. 

Inkerman,  Battle  ot',  586. 
Interregnum.  The  Great,  381. 
Investiture,  \^'ar  of,  376. 
Ionia,  Ionic  colonies,  117,  119. 
Ip'sus,  Battle  of,  153. 
Ireland,  Conquest  of,  344. 
Isabella  of  Castile,  404. 
Is'sus,  Battle  ot,  151. 
Isthmian  Games,  186. 
Italian  Cities,  392. 
War,  594. 
Italy,  390. 
Iv'ry,  Battle  of,  454. 

Jacobins,  The,  540. 
Jacobites  (Lat.  Jacobus),  511. 
Tac  que  rie',  364. 
James  I.  of  England,  494. 
"     II.  "  509- 

Janizaries,  406. 
Ja'nus,  207,  287,  288. 
Japan,  598. 
Ja'son,  115,  169. 

ieanne  Dare,  367. 
em  mapes'.  Battle  of,  543. 
ena.  Battle  of,  564. 
Jerome  of  Prague,  386. 
John  of  England,  343,  358, 
John  the  Good,  355,  362. 
fohnson,  Samuel,  553. 
fonson,  Ben,  468. 
foseph.  80. 
ludea,  80. 
fu  gur'tha,  242. 

fulia,  the  daughter  of  Csesai,  248. 
fulian  the  Apostate,  265. 
Julius  Caesar,  the  Emperor.  248. 
[uno,  184. 
fu'pi  ter,  184. 
[us  tin'i  an,  319. 
fu've  nal,  278. 

Kar'nak,  17,  65. 
Kep'ler,  468,  514. 
Khadijah,  326. 
Knjghts   213,  410. 
Knights  Templar,  399. 
Knox,  John,  463. 
Knut.    See  Canute. 
Ko  lin'.  Battle  of,  530. 
Kos'sutli,  590. 

Lab'vrinth,  3g,  65. 

Lac'e  dae'mon,  119,  146. 

Ladies'  Peace,  The,  435. 

Lancaster.  House  of,  340. 

Latimer,  Hugh,  460. 

Laud,  Archbishop,  498. 

Law,  John,  536. 

Lawfelt,  Battle  of,  529. 

Lech,  Battle  of  the,  483. 

Leonano  (len  yah'no).  Battle  of,  380. 

Leicester,  Earl  of,  464,  466. 

Leignitz,  Battle  of,  530. 

Leip'sic,  Battles  of,  483,  570. 

Lens,  Battle  of,  485 


Leo  X.,  Pope,  394. 

Le  on'i  das,  129. 

Leo  nar'do  da  Vin'ci,  395,  467. 

Le  pan'to,  Battle  of,  596. 

Lep'i  dus.  Triumvir,  253. 

Leuc'tra,  Battle  of,  147. 

Leu'then,  Battle  of,  530. 

Lew'es,  Battle  of,  344. 

Leyden,  Siege  of,  448. 

Li  cm'i  an  Rogation,  219. 

Livy,  277. 

Llew  el'lyn,  344, 

Lodi,  Battle  of,  548. 

Lombards,  The,  320,  392. 

Longbow,  The  English,  342,  361,  363,413. 

Long  o  bards.  The,  325,  392. 

Long  Walls,  The,  138,  194 

Lo  thaire'  I.,  375. 

"  II.  of  Saxony,  379. 

Louis  VII.  of  France,  355,  40x3. 


VIII. 

"        355- 

IX. 

359,403. 

X. 

"         355- 

XL 

''         369. 

XII. 

"         430- 

XIII. 

"        486. 

XIV. 

-         488. 

XV. 

u           536. 

XVL 
XVII. 

See  Brief  France 

XVIII 

of  France,  571. 

Louis  Napoleon,  578. 

Louis  Philippe,  575. 

Lou  vols',  489. 

Lo'wo  sits.  Battle  of,  530. 

Lu'ci  us  Tar  quin'i  us,  209. 

Lu  cre'tia,  211. 

Liit'zen,  Battles  of,  483,  570. 

Lu'ne  ville.  Treaty  of,  559. 

Luther,  Martin,  424,  438. 

Lutherans,  Thj,  441. 

Lux'em  burg,  Marshal  of,  490. 

Ly  cur'gus,  120. 

Lydia,  89,  125. 

Ly  san'der,  145. 

Ly  sim'a  chus,  153. 

Ma'ce  don,  148,  236, 
Madrid,  Treaty  of,  435. 
Mag'de  burg.  Siege  of,  482. 
Ma  gen'ta.  Battle  of,  594. 
Ma'gi,  Magism,  97,  99. 
Mag'na  Char'ta,  343. 
Mag  ne'sia.  Battle  of,  237. 
Ma  hom'et.     See  Mohammed. 
Maid  of  Orleans.    See  Jeanne  Dart- 
Ma  lines',  League  of.  432. 
Mai  pla  quet'.  Battle  of,  493. 
Man'li  us,  Mar'cus,  222. 
Ma  rat  (rah'),  540,  544. 
Mar'a  thon,  126. 
March,  Earl  of,  366,  367. 
Mar'ci  us,  An'cus,  208. 
Mar  do'ni  us,  126. 
Ma  ren'go.  Battle  of,  559. 
Maria  Louisa,  Empress,  567. 
Maria  The  re'sa,  490,  527. 
Maria  de'  Med'i  ci,  486. 
Ma  rie'  An  toi  nette',  537. 
Ma  rig  na'no,  Battle  ot,  432. 


XXX 


INDEX. 


Ma'ri  us,  Cai'us,  242-5. 
Marlborough,  Duke  ot,  493  512. 
Marriage,-Grecian,  189. 
"         Roman,  292. 
Mars,  184. 

Marston  Moor,  Battle  of,  501. 
Mary  of  Burgundy,  370,  387,  433. 

"     of  Orange,  510. 

"     Stuart,  45 r,  463. 

"     Tudor,  444,  461. 
Mat  thi-'as,  444. 
Maurice,  Prince,  442. 

"         of  Nassau,  448. 
Max  i  mil'i  an  I.,  387. 

"  II.,  444. 

Max  im'i  an.  The  Emperor,  263. 
Mayors  of  Palace,  331. 
Maz  a  rin  (reen'),  488. 
Maz  zi'ni,  592. 
Me  de'a,  169. 
Me'di  a,  88. 

Me'di  an  Civilization,  92. 
Med'i  ci  Family,  394. 

"         Catharine  de',  450. 
"         Maria  de',  486. 
Me  lanch'thon,  Philip,  439. 
Mel  pom'e  ne.    See  Muses. 
Me  nan'der,  170. 
Me  ro  vin'gi  an  Line,  331. 
Mes  o  po  ta'mi  a,  45. 
Mes  se'ni  a,  147. 
Messenian  Wars,  121,  136,  163. 
Me  tau'rus,  Battle  of,  234. 
Methodists,  The,  534. 
Metz.  580. 
Mexico,  427, 
Mil  ti'a  des,  126. 
Milton,  John,  513. 
Min  ep  tah,  17,  82. 
Mississippi  Bubble,  537. 
Mith'ri  da'tes  the  Great,  243,  247. 
Mne  mos'y  ne,  185. 
Moguls,  The,  406. 
Mo  hacs'.  Battle  of,  436 
Mo  ham'med,  326, 
Mongols,  The,  405. 
Montfort,  Simon  de,  344,  358. 
Mont  mo  ren'ci,  450. 
Moors,  The,  404. 
Mo  rat'.  Battle  of,  370. 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  458. 
Mor  gar'ten,  Battle  of,  388. 
Mo'ses,  37,  80. 
Mun'da,  Battle  of,  250. 
Muses,  The,  185. 
Myc'a  le.  Battle  of,  134. 

Nafels,  Battle  of,  389. 
Names,  Greek,  175. 

"        Roman.    See  Roman  Society. 
Nancy,  Battle  of,  370. 
Nantes,  Edict  of,  454,  490. 
Napoleon  Buonaparte,  547. 

III.,  578. 
Nar'va,  Battle  of,  523. 
Naseby,  Battle"  of,  501. 
Na  varre',  King  of,  451. 
Neb  u  chad  nez'zar,  50. 
Neck'er,  538. 
Neer  win  den,  Battle  of,  492. 


Nelson,  551,  563. 

Ne'me  an  Games,  186. 

Ne'ro,  The  Emperor,  259. 

NerVa,  The  Emperor,  261. 

Netherlands,  The,  445. 

Neviirs  Cross,  Battle  of,  362. 

Newton,  514. 

Nic'i  as,  143. 

Ni  cop'o  lis.  Battle  of,  407. 

Nimeguen  (ne  ma'gen).  Peace  of   492. 

Nin'e  veh,  46. 

Nonconformists,  462,  506. 

Nord'lin  gen,  Battle  of,  484,  485 

Norman  Conquest,  341. 

Normans,  The,  339,  352,  354,  372. 

Northumberland,  Duke  of,  461. 

Nu'ma  Pom  pil'i  us,  207. 

Nu  man'ti  a,  Siege  of,  238. 

Gates,  Titus,  508. 

Oc  ta'vi  us  Au  gus'tus,  252. 

Olym'piad,  Plrst,  115. 

Olympian  Games,  186. 

O'mar.    See  Saracens. 

Ommiades.    See  Saracens. 

Orange,  Prince  of.    See  William. 

Orleanists,  The,  366. 

Orleans,  Maid  ot.    See  Jeanne  Dare. 

Os'tro  goths,  318. 

Otto  I.,  374. 

Ot'to  mans.     See  Turks. 

Pa  lat'i  NATE,  Devastation  of,  492. 
Pal'es  tine.    See  Judea. 
Pa  nor'mus.  Battle  ot,  229. 
Papacy,  321,  390. 
Pap'pen  heim,  483. 
Pa  py'rus,  23,  178. 
Parchment,  23,  156. 
Paris,  son  of  Priam,  116. 
Parliament  of  Paris,  359. 

Long,  499. 
Par  nas'sus,  185. 
Par  rha'si  us,  182. 
Pas'sau,  Treaty  of,  443. 
Pas  sy'.  Massacre  ot,  452. 
Par' the  non,  180. 
Par'thi  a,  156. 
Pan  sa'ni  as,  133,  135- 
Pa'vi  a,  Battle  of,  434. 
Peasants,  The,  383,  538. 
Pe'dro  the  Cruel,  364. 
Pe  las'gi  ans,  114. 
Pe  lop'i  das,  147. 
Pe  lo  pon  ne'si  an  War,  139. 
Pe'pin  the  Short,  332. 
Per'ga  raus,  156. 
Perioeki,  119,  160. 
Per'i  cles,  135,  136,  140. 
Peripatetics,  The,  176. 
Per'sian  Civilization,  92. 
Pe  ru',  428. 
Peter  the  Great,  520. 

"       "    Hermit,  398. 
Phar  sali  a.  Battle  of,  249. 
Phid'i  as,  181,  183. 
Philip  Augustus.  357,  400. 
Philip  of  Macedon,  the  Great  (II.),  148. 

HI.,  236. 
Philip  VI.  of  France,  355,  361. 


IKDEX. 


XXXI 


Philip  11.  of  Spain,  444,  445. 

"      III.  "      449- 

"      IV.  ''      490. 

"      the  Good,  367. 
Phi  lip'pi,  Battle  of,  253. 
Philis'tines,  82. 
Philosophy,  Schools  of,  175. 
Phoe  ai'ci  a,  73. 
Pi'sa,  392. 
Pi  sis'tra  tus,  123. 
Pitt,  534<  53^- 
Pi  zar'ro,  428. 

Plan  tag'e  net  Line,  340,  346. 
Pla  tae'a,  127. 

"        Battle  of,  133. 
"        Siege  of,  141. 
Pla'to,  175. 
Plin'y,  The  Elder,  277. 

"        The  Younger,  277. 
Plu'tarch,  177. 
Poitiers,  Battle  of,  362. 
Poland,  Partition  of,  526. 
Pompeii,  263,  286,  300. 
Poaipey  the  Great,  245. 
Pontus,  Kingdom  of,  156. 
Por  sen'na,  212, 
Pragmatic  Sanction,  392. 
Prague,  University  or.  385. 
Prax  it'e  les,  183. 
Presburg,  Treaty  of,  563. 
Presbyterians,  The,  501. 
Pretenders,  The,  510. 
Printing,  425. 

Pro'bus,  The  Emperor,  263. 
Ptol'e  my  1.  (Sotor),  153. 

II.  (Philadelphus),  154. 
"  III.  (Euer'ge  tes),  154. 

Prussia,  526. 

Pul  to'vva.  Battle  of,  524. 
Pu'nic  Wars,  227. 
Puritans,  The,  462. 
Pyd'na,  Battle  of,  236. 
Pym,  John,  500. 
Pyramids,  Battle  of,  551. 
Pyrenees,  Peace  of,  489. 
Pyr'rhus,  224. 
Py  thag'o  ras,  174. 
Pyth'i  an  Games,  186. 

Quakers,  The,  505. 
Quin'tus  Cur'ti  us,  223. 
Qui  ri'tes,  208. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  465,  468. 
Ram'e  ses  II..  17,  19,  80. 
Ram'il  lies,  Battle  of,  493. 
Raph'a  el,  395,  424,  467. 
Ras'tadt.  Peace  of,  493. 
Raucaux,  Battle  of,  529. 
Reformation,  The,  438. 
Reform  Banquets,  576. 
Re  gil'lus  (Lake),  Battle  of,  213. 
Reg'u  lus,  229 
Renaissance.  395,  424. 
Restoration,  The  English,  506. 
Restoration,  The  French,  571. 
Revival  of  Learning,  424,  438. 
Revolution  of  1688,  510. 
"         of  1848,  577. 
Richard  I.  of  England,  400. 


Richard  II.  of  England,  365. 

•'        III.  -  346,369. 

Rich'e  lieu,  Cardinal  de,  48.7. 
Ri  en'zi.  396. 
Rights.  Bill  of  510. 
Riv'o  li,  Battle  of.  550. 
Roads,  Roman,  226,  282, 
Ro  bes  pierre',  540 
Ro  chelle',  Siege  of,  487. 
Ro  croi',  Battle  of,  485. 
Roland,  The  Paladin,  332. 
Rolf,  Rollo  or  Roe,  354. 
Roman  Civilization,  270. 
Romans,  The  King  of  the,  381. 
Rome,  203. 
Rom'u  lus,  205. 
Roses,  VV'ars  of,  346,  369. 
Ro  set'ta  Stone,  22. 
Rossbach,  Battle  of,  530. 
Roundheads,  The,  500. 
Ru'dolph  II.  of  Austria,  444. 

"        of  Hapsburg,  382,  387. 
Run'ny  mede,  342. 
Ru'pert,  Prince,  500. 
Russell,  Lord  William,  509. 

"        Lord  John,  584. 
Russia,  52b.  . 
Rye  House  Plot,  509. 
Rys'wick,  Treaty  ot,  493. 

Sa'bines,  Rape  of,  206. 

Sacred  War,  149. 

Sadowa,  Battle  of,  591. 

Sa  gun'tum.  Siege  of^  230. 

Sal  a  din.  Caliph,  400. 

Sal'a  mis.  Battle  of,  132. 

Sal'lust,  275. 

Sam'nite  Wars,  224. 

Sap'pho.  164. 

Sar'a  cens,  The,  326, 

Sar'gon,  Sar  gon'i  dae,  49. 

Saxons,  The  Anglo-,  338,  347. 

Schism,  The  Great.  385. 

Schles^wig-Hol'stein,  590. 

Schlie'mann.  Dr.,  162. 

Schools  of  Philosophy,  175. 

Scip'i  OS  The,  235. 

Sedan,  Battle  of,  580. 

Se  leu'cus  I.,  153,  155. 

Se  mir'a  mis,  49. 

Sem'pach,  Battle  of,  388. 

Sem  pro'ni  us,  231, 

Sen'e  ca,  278. 

Sen  nach'e  rib.  49. 

Ser'vi  us  Tul'li  us.  209. 

Se  sos'tris,  18. 

Seven-Months  War,  579. 

Seven- Weeks  War,  591. 

Seven  Wise  Men.    (Appendix.) 

"      Wonders 
Seven- Years  War,  529,  533. 
Se  ve'rus.  The  Emperor,  262. 
Sex'tus  Tar  quin'i  us,  211. 
Shakspere,  468,  472. 
Sicily,  395. 
Sidney,  Algernon,  509. 

"        Sir  Philip,  464,  468. 
Sig'is  mund,  385,  386. 
Sluys,  Battle  of,  361. 
SmaFcald  ic  League,  442, 


XXXll 


INDEX 


Social  War,  The,  243. 

Soc'ra  tes,  170,  174. 

So'lon,  122. 

SoFy  man,  436. 

Soph'o  cles,  167. 

South-Sea  Scheme,  532. 

Spain,  433. 

Spanish  Succession,  War  of,  493. 

Spar'ta,  119. 

Spar'ta  cus,  245 

St.  Bartholomew,  Massacre  of,  453. 

St.  Ger  main',  Treaty  of,  452. 

St,  Quentin,  444. 

Star  Chamber,  The,  499. 

Steinkirk,  Battle  of,  492. 

Stoics,  The.  177. 

Straflford,  Earl  of.  498. 

Stuarts,  The,  494. 

Student,  The  Traveling,  476. 

Sul'la,  L.  Cornelius,  242-5. 

Sully,  454. 

Switzerland,  388. 

Syracuse,  118, 

"  Expedition,  143. 

"     .     Siege  of,  234. 
Syria,  237. 

Tac'i  tus,  the  Historian,  277. 

Talbot,  369. 

Tancred,  398. 

Tar  quin'i  us,  L.  Pris'cus,  208. 

"■  Su  per'bus,  209,  213. 

Tartars,  109. 
Tell,  William,  388. 
Templars,  360.  390. 
Ten  Thousand,  The,  145. 
Test  Act,  508. 
Tet'zel,  438. 
Thales,  174. 
Thap'sus,  Battle  of,  250. 
Theoes,  17,  147. 
The  mis'to  cles,  128.  135. 
The  o  do'si  us  I.,  the  Great,  266. 
Ther  mop'y  lae,  Battle  of,  129,  237. 
Thes'pis,  165. 
Thirty  Tyrants.  145. 
Thirty-Years  War,  480. 
Thoth'mes  III.,  17. 
Thu  cyd'i  des,  172. 
Ti  be'ri  us,  The  Emperor,  258. 
Tiers  etat,  360,  540. 
Tig'lath-pi  le'ser  I.,  47 
Tilly,  Count.  482. 
Til'sit,  Peace  of,  565. 
Titus,  The  Emperor,  260. 
Tor'gau,  Battle  of,  530, 
Tories,  500.  509. 
Tours,  Battle  of.  328. 
Traf'al  gar'.  Battle  of,  563. 
Tra'jan,  261. 

Tras'i  me'nus,  Battle  of,  232. 
Treb'ia,  Battle  of,  231. 
Trent,  Council  of,  442. 
Triple  Alliance,  490. 
Tri  um'virs,  The,  248,  252. 
Troy,  Excavations  at,  162. 

'•     Siege  of,  116. 
Troyes,  Treaty  of,  367. 
Truce  of  God,  376. 
Tudors,  455. 


Tul'li  us  Hos  til'i  us,  207. 
Tu  ra'ni  ans.  The,  10. 
Turks,  the,  330,  406,  436. 
Tu  renne',  488. 
Tyler,  Wat,  366. 
Tyre,  73,  151. 
Tyr  tse'us,  163. 

Ut'recht,  Treaty  of,  493. 

Va'lens,  The  Emperor,  266. 

Va  le'ri  an  and  Ho  ra'ti  an  laws,  218. 

Val'my,  Battle  of,  543. 

Vandals.  The,  269,  318. 

Va-'rus,  Battle  of,  256. 

Vau  ban',  489. 

Ve'i  i,  Siege  of,  221. 

Venice,  392. 

Venus,  184. 

Ver  cel'lae.  Battle  of,  242. 

Ver  dun',  Treaty  of.  335. 

Ves  pas'i  an.  The  Emperor,  260. 

Ve  su'vi  us,  Battle  of,  223. 

Victoria,  Queen,  583. 

Vienna,  Congress  of,  572,  588. 

"       Siege  of,  436,  562. 
Vi  on  ville',  Battle  of,  580. 
Virgil,  275. 
Vir  gin'i  a,  217. 
Vis'i  goths.  The,  318. 

Wa'gram,  Battle  of,  567. 

Wales,  Conquest  of,  344. 
"        Prince  of,  345. 

Wallace,  William,  345. 

Wal'len  stein.  Count,  481,  483. 

Walpole,  Robert.  533. 

Walter  the  Penniless,  398. 

Walton,  Isaac,  513. 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  369. 

Waterloo.  Battle  of,  572. 
i    Watt,  James,  555. 
!    Weins'burg,  379. 

Weis'sen  burg.  Battle  of  580. 

W^el'les  ley.    See  Wellington. 

Wellington    Lord,  566, 

Wesley,  John,  534. 

W^est  pha'li  a.  Peace  of,  389,  485. 

Whigs,  The,  500,  509. 

William  I.  of  England,  340,  356. 
"        HI.  "  49I)  5IO' 

"        the  Silent  446. 

Worth,  Battle  of.  580. 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  434,  456. 

Worcester,  Battle  of.  503. 

World's  Fair,  579,  586. 

Worms,  Concordat  of,  379. 
'■'■        Diet  at,  386,  439- 

Xan  thip'pus.  Spartan  General,  229. 
Xen'o  phon,  47,  172 
Xer'xes,  129. 

York,  House  of,  340,  346,  369. 

Za'ma,  Battle  of,  234. 
Ze'no.  177. 
Zeux'is,  182. 

Zorn'dorf,  Battle  of,  530. 
Zo'ro  as'ter.  93. 
Zwin'gle,  Ulrich,  441. 


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